'acoD^ 

♦ SOUL 




John L ancsLster 
Spalding 




Book .6 z -GiG 

Copyright};^ .__ 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



God ^ The Soul 



BY THE SAME AUTHOR 

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Published by A. C. McCLURG & CO. 
CHICAGO 



God <^ The Soul 

• / ■ 

By JOHN LANCASTER SPALDING 

BISHOP OF PEORIA 

AUTHOR OF " EDUCATION AND THE HIGHER LIFE," 
"songs from THE GERMAN," ETC. 



M.an ivakens from his sleep ivithin the ivomb^ 

Cries, laughs and yanvns — then sleeps ivithin the tomb. 

If this ivere all his life loere ivorse than vain 

And never to be horn the richest gain : 

From out the depths therefore the soul doth cry 

To Godf to save it lest it ivholly die. 



THE GRAFTON PRESS 
NEW YORK •:• MCMI 



Copyright, 190 1, by 
John Lancaster Spalding 



THE LIBRARY OF 

CO '^'^.R ESS, 
Two CuMtd Received 

OCT. 30 1901 

COPVRIOHT ENTRY 

CLASS t^^ XXa No. 

/ q cj 'g t4- 
COPY B. 






GOD AND THE SOUL 

INTRODUCTION 

THAT which is primary and essential in con- 
sciousness is feeling, and self-conscious being 
utters itself most intimately and most surely when 
it says, I am and God is — He is in me and I am 
in Him. God's presence in the soul of each one 
makes his world a world of truth, beauty, and good- 
ness, which, since it is eternal and infinite, can 
never be wholly grasped, whether by thought or 
love, but must be forever sought and striven for 
with endless desire and patience. Religion, con- 
duct, science, and art have as their end the establish- 
ment of a heavenly kingdom, wherein the soul, 
inspired by the love of God, illumines the all-per- 
vading darkness of mystery and sin, and finds itself 
at home in realms where the Infinite Spirit gathers 
all things into everlasting harmony. If one should 

[3 ] 



know all and see that God is not, the Universe 
would become for him a boundless mockery and lie, 
where none could hope or love, could have high 
thoughts or visions of celestial beauty. But once 
the soul is made conscious of God's immanence, it 
finds Him everywhere and in all : in prisons and in 
deserts, as in palaces and in golden fields of undulat- 
ing grain ; in pain and sorrow, as in pleasure and 
delight. Of Him poets and orators sing and speak 
when their inspiration is deepest and purest. Of 
Him lovers think when they believe their love eter- 
nal. To Him mothers lift hearts of thankfulness 
and prayer when their gentle faces bend over their 
sleeping infants, or when disconsolate they are 
bowed over their graves. It is the feeling of kin- 
ship with Him that gives unity to the mind, stead- 
fastness to the will, and aim and end to life. His 
Spirit clothes the Universe with splendor and fills 
hearts with sympathy and peace. Of Him we are 
aware, when the conquering dawn drives darkness 
afar and makes new worlds ; when the sun, gath- 
ering rich clouds of purple about him, brings the 
gloaming to beckon all weary workers to rest. Of 
His patience the stars remind us and the quiet 
earth; to His Eternity the mountains witness; 
[4] 



of His power the ever-moving oceans tell ; of His 
beauty and loving-kindness the flowers and the eyes 
and voices of little children utter praise. Great 
priests and law-givers who with heroic souls have 
lifted peoples above their appetites into the realms 
of reason and of right have felt that they were called 
of God, and in His name they have commanded and 
decreed ; artists, still seeking and still despairing to 
fix the glory which forever flees, are lured by the 
light that encircles Him ; noblest warriors who 
have led armies to battle for their homes and their 
liberties, on their banners have inscribed His name ; 
and thinkers and students who never tire, when 
they have peered into all things from atoms to the 
brain of man, find Him or they find no life and 
truth, but only dust and death at the core of all. If 
science end not in Him, it ends in nothingness and 
despair; if possessions Hft not to His service and 
love, they harden and smother the soul until it dies ; 
if Fame center not in Him, it is but the shriek of 
ghosts within a charnel house ; if art lack the vision 
and the consecration which is Himself, it falls from 
the heavenly height and wallows foul and helpless 
in the sloughs of sense. 

They who lose the power to believe in Him 
[ 5 ] 



lose the power to hope and love, lose the power to 
admire worthily and to bear whatever may befall 
with hearts made strong and pure by suffering : but 
they who know Him, even now lead the immortal 
life of blessedness, though they wear a beggar's garb, 
scorned of men. In solitude. He is company ; in 
misery, solace ; in weakness, strength j in sickness, 
health ; in conflict and battle, peace and victory. 

When young and virginal souls feel the touch of 
His divine presence they turn from all lures and 
delights that they may dwell with Him alone : 
when the old and forsaken remember Him, the 
springtime blooms about them, and thoughts fra- 
grant with eternal bliss bring again the days when 
life was joy and love. 

Where He is, seriousness is glad and toil is sweet : 
where He is not pleasure palls and there is a sob in 
the laughter of mirth. 

He is the beginning and the end ; or, if not so, 
between the beginning and the end there is but a 
vain dream of phantoms which no substance own. 

Peoria, July i, 1901. 



[6] 



CONTENTS 

BOOK FIRST. 

Preludes. Page 

Faith and a Heart, 17 

The Dower of Wings, 19 

Sursum Corda, 21 

The Book. 

Veni, Sancte Spiritus, 27 

In Worlds Unseen, 28 

On Bended Knees, ........ 29 

The Pilgrims of the Sky, 30 

The Starry Host, 31 

The Vast Unknown, 32 

God's Witnesses, 33 

The Voice Within; 34 

Religion and Poetry, 35 

Omen of Good, 36 

The Light of Love, 37 

The Archetype, 38 

In Conflux of Immensities, 39 

Permanence in Midst of Change 40 

Death's Grand Avenue, 41 

A Fallen God, 42 

The Soul's High- way, 43 

[7] 



Page 

Science and Faith, 44 

The Pure Eye, 45 

Wisdom and Power, 46 

Through Simplest Means, 47 

Actus Purus, 48 

Divine Purpose, 49 

Mind and Matter, 50 

The World as Will, 51 

O Boastful Science, 52 

A Mere Parasite, 53 

The Thing in Itself, 54 

Fate and Freedom, 55 

God's Temple, 56 

God's Scholar, 57 

Aspiring Faith, 58 

Faith and Conduct, 59 

The Light of Souls, 60 

Divine Knowledge, 61 

Knowledge and Faith, 62 

Beauty, 63 

Immortal, 64 

Transformation, 65 

Et Mori Lucrum, 66 

The Philosophic Mind, d'] 

God's Thrall, 68 

Sole Refuge, 69 

The Law of Contradiction, 70 

Life's Rainbow, 71 

Homeward, 72 

Creative Love, 73 

Mother Love, 74 

[8] 



BOOK SECOND. 

Preludes. Page 

Immortal Task, o ... 77 

Not Death but Life, 78 

In Vain, 80 

The Book. 

The Higher Way, . 85 

God's in His World, 86 

God's and Nature's Guest, 87 

Earth's Crammed With God, 88 

The Spirit of Morning, 89 

The Voice of Evening, 90 

Visions of Childhood, 91 

The Mellow, Hazy Days, 92 

Beautiful Death, 93 

Consoling Power of Beauty, 94 

Life's Dewy Dawn, • 95 

Beauty's Promise, 96 

Life's Goodness, 97 

The Bane of Possession, 98 

The Essential Good, 99 

Athirst for God, 100 

A Strong Anchor, loi 

The Void Between, 102 

The Incommunicable Heart, 103 

Disenchantment, 104 

Sad Seekers, 105 

The Soul's Magnetic Pole, io6 

Infinite Hope, 107 

[9] 



Page 

Infinite Yearning, io8 

Infinite Mystery, 109 

Alone with God, no 

The Soul's Home, in 

A Wanderer, 112 

Death's Pilgrim, 113 

Evanescence, 114 

Oblivion, 115 

Deepening Shadows, 116 

God's Handiwork, 117 

The Light of the Soul, 118 

Appearance and Reality, 119 

Irreparable Loss, 120 

From Evil, Good, 121 

The Price of Excellence, 122 

Though but a Dream, 123 

Eternal Hope, 124 

Low-Bedded, 125 

The Goal, 1 26 

Strength and Love, 127 

Death in Life, 128 

The Soul's Delight, 129 

Like to Like, 130 

A Perpetual Feast, 131 

BOOK THIRD. 
Preludes. 

Infinity, . 135 

Death's Scorners and Lovers, 137 

Seen and Unseen, 139 

[10] 



The Book. P 

The Feast of Tongues, 145 

Deathless Beauty, 146 

Self-Restraint, 147 

Aspiration, i^g 

God and Thyself, iaq 

World-Throwers, 1^0 

The Soul of Joy, 151 

Captives of Success, i{|2 

The Chosen Few, ir^ 

Ideals of Youth, I r j. 

Work and Happiness, ir^ 

Unto the End, 1^6 

Velut Occulto Arbor ^vo, 157 

A Power Unused, 158 

From the Fulness of the Heart, . . . .159 

Having and Being, 160 

Auri Sacra Fames, 161 

Cursed Blessed Wealth, 162 

Idle Fancy, 162 

Inseparable Union, 164 

Not all in Vain, . ^ 165 

From Crowds Afar, 166 

The Blessing of Solitude, 167 

The Peace of the Humble, 168 

Soul Affinities, i6q 

Metamorphosis, 170 

Life from Death, 171 

From the Slime, 172 

The New Dawn, 17^ 

At Rest, 17. 



Page 

The Praise of Men, . » . o . , , . 175 
Unseen, But Felt as Near, . . . . . .176 

Death of the Loved, 177 

Endurance, 178 

The Light Beyond the Bourn, 179 

Death of the Innocent, 180 

Sunset Skies, . »i8i 

Contemplation, 182 

From Darkness, Light, 183 

Afield, 184 

Sweet Idle Leisure, 185 

O Soothest Sleep, 186 

Wisdom and Purity, 187 

Loveless Strength, 188 

Self- Persistence, 189 

Divine Gifts, 190 

Inequality, 191 

Loving Confidence, 192 

Ascending Paths, 193 

BOOK FOURTH. 
Preludes. 

Love and Innocence, 197 

Bliss Everlasting, 198 

The Chief Good, 201 

Silence, 203 

The Book. 

Godward, . 207 

Self-Satisfied, 208 

Past and Present, 209 

[12] 



Page 

The Source of Inspiration, 210 

Forever Young, 211 

The Creative Soul, . . 212 

The Impotence of Art, o 213 

As in a Dream, 214 

The Great Mother, 215 

Home, 216 

Nonabel, 217 

Truth and Love, 218 

The Fount of Good, . . . . . . .219 

Phantoms of Time and Space, 220 

The Good of Sympathy, 221 

Reunited in Higher Worlds, 222 

At the Breaking of the Bread, 223 

Divine Favor, 224 

Duty's Stern Command, 225 

Rest in My Love, 226 

Life's Shadow, 227 

Immortal Grief, 228 

By Suffering Made Perfect, 229 

The Wages of Sin, 230 

Undeceived, 231 

Blessings in Disguise, 232 

In the Depths, 233 

Sorrow- Crowned, 234 

At the Ninth Hour, 235 

Consummatum Est, 236 

Obermann, 237 

The Melancholy Tribe, 238 

De Profundis, 239 

Life's Witness, 240 

[ '3] 



Page 

Resignation, 241 

Life Eternal, 242 

The Gift of Self, 243 

In Self-defence, 244 

A Twofold Love, 245 

Self- Renouncement, 246 

Spiritual Combat, 247 

In Exitu, 248 

Where Tyrants Perish, 249 

Freedom's Fortress, 250 

A Lowly Mind, 251 

Nature's Permanence, 252 

Ceaseless Quest, 253 

Live Now Right Life, 254 

Thy Will be Done, 255 

Perchance, 256 



[ 14] 



PRELUDES TO BOOK FIRST 



Faith and a Heart 



WHAT can console for a dead world ? 
We tread on dust which once was life ; 
To nothingness all things are hurled : 
What meaning in a hopeless strife ? 
Time's awful storm 
Breaks but the form. 

Whatever comes, whatever goes, 

Still throbs the heart whereby we live ; 
The primal joys still lighten woes. 
And time which steals doth also give. 
Fear not, be brave : 
God can thee save. 

The essential truth of life remains. 
Its goodness and its beauty too, 
Pure love's unutterable gains. 

And hope which thrills us through and through ; 
God has not fled. 
Souls are not dead. 

Not in most ancient Palestine 

Nor in the lightsome air of Greece, 

[«7] 



Were human struggles more divine, 

More blessed with guerdon of increase. 
Take thou thy stand 
In the workers' band. 

Hast then no faith ? Thine is the fault — 

What prophets, heroes, sages, saints, 
Have loved, on thee still makes assault, 
Thee with immortal things acquaints. 
On life then seize ; 
Doubt is disease. 



[ i8] 



The Dower of Wings 



THE youth, watching the eagle float 
Through heaven's ethereal blue, 
With sails out-spread like a fair boat, 

Would gladly bid adieu 
To earth, and soar through boundless space. 
Contending in the tireless race. 

The poet, too, in his high song, 

Dreams of the lofty flight 
That bears the eagle swift along 

Above the mountain height. 
Sweeping still on with the glad sun, 
Whose godlike course is never run. 

And lovers, when the heart is young. 

Long for the dower of wings. 
That they may dwell the stars among. 

And taste the joy that springs 
When tender souls from crowds remote 
Together blend, to bliss devote. 

And when sweet music softly steals. 
And trembling upward flies, 
[ '9 ] 



The soul responsive yearning feels 

To mingle with the skies ; 
And like harmonious viewless sound, 
To rise through the blue deep profound. 

Ah blessedness lies not in space ; 

And had we wings to soar, 
They could not bring us to God's face 

Or make us love Him more : 
Within the living fountain springs 
Purer than skies cloven by wings. 



[20] 



Sursum Corda 



UPRAISE thy heart and seek the highest 
thought 
Which can reflect itself in human soul ! 
Where ever-moving v^ings of time grow weak, 
And droop, and fall into eternity ; 
Where utmost bounds of all-embracing space 
Shrink to a point within the limitless, — 
There arms of the Infinite Spirit stretch, 
Upbear, and hold the Universal All. 
Upon His breast all men and angels rest; 
And the wide-gleaming seas of light and worlds 
Lie, like a glittering drop, within His hand. 
Amid the rush of countless spheres unmoved. 
In burning heat of myriad suns untouched. 
Through cycles myriad-fold of time unchanged. 
He looks in nature's vat of life and death — 
The seething and world-wide ferment that spawns 
All forms of living things and swallows them ; 
His eye rests on the ever-changing scene; 
The many pass, and He alone remains — 
Eternal, mighty, true, infinite God. 
The awful shadow of His too-great light 

[21] 



Is everywhere, and therefore everywhere 

We feel His presence, though Himself unseen. 

At farthest reach of thought, He says : " Believe ! " 

Where highest beauty is, He cries : " Yet higher ! " 

When all is won, whispers : " Thy all is nought ! " 

Eternal, He makes longest time seem short; 

Pure light. He darkens what is not Himself; 

Infinite He, all else seems not to be ; 

Essential life, where He is not is death ; 

Truth absolute, all else but visionary ; 

The one sole good, all other mixed with ill ; 

The perfect, best, all-holy, all-fair God ! 

In black despair. He is the gleam of hope ; 

When all is lost. He faithful still remains. 

He is the light that lies on silent graves ; 

That gleams through heaven when stars begem the 

sky 
That clothes the earth with flowers in the glad 

spring. 
He is the harmony of the wide world. 
The music in all tender, loving souls. 
Which the whole earth attunes to sweet accord 
With their own happiness and deep delight. 
He is the joy that swells in childhood's heart ; 
He is the love that Hves in mother's breast ; 

[22 ] 



He is the gladness of all frolic things. 

The rising sun is but His shadowed light, 

The moon that leads the stars still dreams of Him, 

And the abysmal heavens speak His name ! 

Up toward His throne the mountains lift their 

heads, 
And oceans ever-moaning yearn for Him, 
All-beautiful, Omnipotent, sole God. 
He is the power that moves the human heart 
To higher faith and hope and larger life. 
To purer love and more unselfish ends ; 
The strength that lives in souls of men who die 
For truth, for justice, and for liberty. 
Trusting to Him that not in vain they die. 
His voice makes conscience the supreme of power — 
The echo of a will immutable, 
'Gainst which the clamors of an universe 
Were idle as the waves that break on rocks. 
He is the centre of all suns, as they 
The centres are of the revolving planets ; 
They move in orbits that converge to Him, 
As thoughts of exiles ever homeward turn ; 
Bearing upon their glowing breasts all forms 
Of life and beauty, which are but His splendor ; 
And when their motions cease and time is dead 

C 23 ] 



And all the worlds at last at rest in Him, 
In Him from whom their wanderings first began, 
Like children safe within a mother's arms, 
His calm, eternal mien shall comfort all ; 
And they who see shall ask for nothing more, 
But looking shall have endless life and love. 
And even now the eye that pierces through 
The veil, and in the effect beholds the cause. 
By contemplation may the height attain 
Where things material vanish utterly, 
And God comes forth, like face of one we love, 
Filling the soul and lighting all the earth. 



[24] 



BOOK FIRST 



Vent, Sancte Spiritus 



DESCEND, O Spirit, with higher power 
descend ; 
Breathe on the souls of men and purify 
Their thoughts and loves, which in mere matter lie ; 
Some touch of heaven to their strivings lend ; 

To earth-bound hopes appoint immortal end ; 
To death, not less than life, show God is nigh ; 
Reveal the worlds hidden from human eye. 
Where jarring elements harmonious blend. 

Our scattered knowledges together bind. 

Our freedom consecrate to noble aims. 

To music set the visions of the mind. 

Give utterance to the truth pure faith proclaims ; 

Lead where the perfect beauty lies enshrined. 

Whose sight the blood of low-born passion tames. 



[27] 



In Worlds Unseen 



ABOVE cold reason's reach uplifted high, 
My heart dwells in mysterious worlds un- 
seen, 
Where nought can come God and the soul 
between, 
And weary time dies in eternity ; 

Where all is peaceful as an evening sky 
When earth is still and heaven is serene ; 
Restful as is a mother's gentle mien. 

Who sings her baby soothest lullaby. 

There on the sunlit mountain height I find 
Repose amid the clear ethereal blue ; 

And see the clouds and hear the roaring wind, 
Which far below the earth with ruins strew ; 

And watch the noisy crowd with a calm mind. 
While truth eternal rises full in view. 



[ =8] 



On Bended Knees 



FOND poet ! dreamest thou thy upturned eye 
May be the mirror where the All-unseen 
Will cast the shadow of his beauty's sheen 
In answer to thy yearning heart's deep cry ? 

Hopest that thy rapt soul shall find reply 

To its sad doubts, when through the vault serene 
Of heaven, it mounts struggling with vision keen, 

To penetrate the infinite mystery ? 

O lift from bended knees adoring eyes — 
Thy little earth-boat is an atom mere. 

Floating on billowy time through boundless skies. 
And thou canst know neither the far nor near, 

For fathomless is all that round thee lies. 

And God alone can make the dim way clear. 



[^9] 



The Pilgrims of the Sky 



HIGH host of white-robed pilgrims who each 
night, 
All calmly through the empty-vaulted sky 
Upon the wings of silence onward fly, 
And o'er the darkness throw a mystic light, 

Which, fresh as dew, falls from the heavenly 
height. 

Sweetly to bathe each wondering human eye 

That looks upon the awful mystery 
And yearns to know the meaning of your flight. 

Like souls of men, seek ye some hidden shrine 
Where Truth and Love and Beauty all are one ? 

Do ye bear hearts smitten with hope divine, 

Whose thought, like ours, doth longest time 
outrun ? 

Does faith in God along your pathway shine. 
Lighting the gloom until your task be done ? 



[30] 



The Starry Host 



THE countless stars, which to our human eye 
Are fixed and steadfast, each in proper 
place. 
Forever bound to changeless points in space, 
Rush with our sun and planets through the sky, 
And like a flock of birds still onward fly ; 
Returning never whence began their race. 
They speed their ceaseless way with gleaming 
face 
As though God bade them win Infinity. 

Ah whither, whither is their forward flight 
Through endless time and limitless expanse ? 

What Power with unimaginable might 

First hurled them forth to spin in tireless dance ? 

What Beauty lures them on through primal night, 
So that for them to be is to advance ? 



[31 ] 



The Vast Unknown 



THE vast abyss of space is without light, 
Forever dark, and like deep hidden mine, 
Where, here and there, rich glowing rubies 
shine ; 
While all else lies clothed in eternal night. 

The watcher on the loftiest mountain height 
In the full noon sees all the stars in line, 
Burning like lamps before a holy shrine. 

As through the dark it breaks on pilgrim's sight. 

So in the boundless world of truth we see 
But little isles that brighten to our eyes, 

While all else lies lost in obscurity ; 

And we move on amid the dim-lit skies. 

From point to point through the dark mystery. 
Still calling God with our sad, piteous cries. 



[32] 



God's Witnesses 



THE star-lit sky above, the law within — 
These are of truth the witnesses sublime, 
To which man's heart has hearkened in all time, 
As to deep voice heard 'mid the battle's din. 

Unchangeable while ages onward spin, 

Ringing of life and death the equal rhyme ; 
Through all the centuries and every clime. 

They utter God, despite all doubt and sin. 

Beneath the stars, in presence of the soul. 

Far from the whirl, the noise, the strife, the 
glare 

Of the vain world, come visions of the whole, 
Which His eternal hands make and upbear : 

We read the writing of the mystic scroll. 

And know that life means hope, and not despair. 



[33l 



The Voice Within 



CONSCIENCE is God felt present and made 
known, 
The point of contact in each human breast, 
Where His pure image is on souls impressed, 
And the immortal life is clearly shown. 

Our thoughts may wander forth, blind and alone. 
In the inane seeking the living Best, 
And foam-like touching but the billow's crest, 

Upcaught by winds and through black mists on- 
blown : 

But they who conscience follow do not fear: 
They hear within God's deep eternal voice. 

And in all storms are certain He is near. 
And in all sorrows still in Him rejoice. 

In midst of darkest night in Him see clear. 

And in all doubts stand fast by the first choice. 



[34] 



Religion and Poetry 



RELIGION is akin to poetry; 
Both look into the deepest heart of things, 
And both see God whence all true beauty 
springs, 
Whatever say cold, dull philosophy. 

Imagination and the heart agree. 

Who loves is brother twin to him who sings. 
And who believes doth long to soar on wings 

Above the earth, through heaven's infinity. 

They know not God, who separate the muse 
From faith, and strip his holy temple bare 

Of beauty ; for the soul cannot but choose 
To twine its love with all that's pure and fair, 

And into dreams of other worlds infuse 

The glow of what on earth is sweet and rare. 



[35 ] 



Omen of Good 



AS in the earliest stir of coming spring, 
When buds begin to swell with richer glow, 
And violets their purple heads to show. 
When floating clouds their soft white banners fling 

To greet with welcome the young zephyr's wing. 
Prophetic glance sees reddening orchards blow. 
Sees harvests wave and the ripe vintage flow 

With all the wealth the teeming seasons brings 

So in the tender pulse of love the soul 
Finds presage of the higher life we bear. 

Sees the dark clouds of fate and death uproll. 
While light and beauty break forth everywhere. 

Binding the scattered worlds into a whole 
Where God is all in all, and all is fair. 



[36] 



T^he Light of hove 



RECLINED upon a hill in summer night, 
The shepherd, looking on the plain below, 
Sees in the darkness momentary glow 
Of fireflies kindling still their fickle light; 
Or gazing upward at the infinite height 

Of heaven, sees stars their feeble rays out-throw, 
While silent through unending years they go. 
As though the awful gloom did them affright : 

So human souls, banished in space and time. 

Look round, and in the waste see but the gleam 

Of love, which makes a habitable clime 
Of earth j or gazing upward in a dream. 

See God, alone, eternal and sublime. 

Who is, while worlds flow on in ceaseless 
stream. 



C37] 



The Archetype 



THERE'S not a thought that blossoms in the 
mind, 
But pushes roots deeper than all we see, 
Through time and space into infinity. 
And with a thousand shoots round God is twined. 

We think of love ; it will not be confined 

To forms and shows which do but rise and flee : 
We think of truth ; it must forever be : 

We think ourselves, and type of God still find. 

As one who looks upon the earth and sky 
In the full noon beholds the boundless scene 

Clothed in pure light which streams upon the eye 
Where'er he turn; so, God and souls between, 

Translucent ether floats and brings them nigh. 
Unconscious of the worlds that intervene. 



[38] 



In Conflux of Immensities 



OUR deeds what yet is to be done but show, 
As our possessions but make known our 
needs, 
As the horizon from our steps recedes. 
And the way lengthens as we farther go. 

The more we learn, alas ! the less we know ; 

And what we have to what we have not leads ; 

The more we love, the more the heart still bleeds; 
To our high thoughts our lives do not up-grow. 

In conflux of immensities we lie ; 

Infinities within the soul converge ; 
Around us is the depth of boundless sky ; 

Within, the waves of boundless yearning surge : 
To nothing and to God we are most nigh. 

And far as hell from heaven our ways diverge. 



[39] 



Permanence in Midst of Change 

NAUGHT that we touch or see but changing 
dies — 
The stars that fill the heavens with mystic flame, 
The mountains which we everlasting name, 
Are passing way e'en as the bird that flies. 

They are abiding but to human eyes. 
But seem to us eternally the same, 
Whose being is fitted to such petty frame 

As briefest time to smallest space supplies. 

Why then dost thou still dwell O soul of mine. 
In worlds where truth and love all steadfast are, 

And fadeless beauty makes herself a shrine ? 
Affixed to earth why lookest thou afar ? 

Why hopest for what never can be thine 
Unless sad death the gates of life unbar ? 



[40] 



Death's Grand Avenue 



THE heavens shall grow old ; be cast aside 
Like out-worn vesture ; the great sun shall 
fail 
And all the countless host of stars wax pale 
And on the earth no living thing abide ! 

This is the voice with which the Blessed Saviour 
cried 
To men, who on time's billowy ocean sail, 
Trusting their all to bottoms that are frail. 

With perishable elements for guide. 

This is the truth which science utters too, 

Teaching that suns and moons and earth shall 
die. 

That boundless space is death's grand avenue, 
Where winds the funeral march of earth and sky. 

Is death then the eternal only true. 
And life, but a despairing wail, a lie ? 



[41 ] 



A Fallen God 



MAN is a fallen god whose thoughts up-rise 
To that high world where he was born 
to reign : 
Thence banished, he bears of his loss deep pain, 
And walks the earth, remembering the skies; 

And as a bird from coming winter flies 
Across vast continents, o'er hill and plain. 
To unseen climes, all fresh with spring's warm 
rain. 

So he to heaven lifts imploring eyes, 

And like a wandering exile homeward turns. 
Dreaming of peace and love that hover there. 

Of the glad fire that on his hearth-stone burns 
To welcome his return through frosty air. 

As though it knew the pain with which he yearns. 
To sit again in the long-vacant chair. 



[42] 



The Soul's High-way 



O SCIENCE, follow in the soul's high-way, 
Which looks through death to life's great 
fountain-head, 
And knows itself better than the low bed 
Wherein it lies and where it cannot stay, 

But like a germ will break through the dull clay. 
And rise to heaven where it the light may wed. 
And wear its bloomy crown and fragrance shed 

On loving hearts, who drink the star's soft ray. 

In presence of a dying universe. 

The soul awakens and sees God appear. 

As when we follow after the sad hearse. 

Which to the grave bears form of one most dear, 

With him immortal now we hold converse, 

And see new worlds through gently falling tear. 



[43 ] 



Science and Faith 



THE heavens vanish when cold reason stares; 
Infinite space becomes a form of thought, 
The colors w^hich there lie with light inwrought, 
Are pulses merely that the ether bears. 

And all the glory that through time upflares, 
In the great Archipelago, is naught 
But moving atoms which are blindly brought. 

To make a show that for no end prepares. 

And the sad soul that this poor system weaves 
Is atoms too awakening out of sleep. 

Which when it inmost truth but once perceives, 
Must hasten onward to the unknown deep. 

Where nothing lives and nothing loves or grieves: 
But I, O God, my early faith will keep. 



[44] 



The Pure Eye 



HOW sick this age must be, since men can 
doubt 
That God is in the world and life is sweet; 
Since in all ways they walk they do not meet 
His unseen Presence and for gladness shout. 

Whether we look within or look without. 
Visions ineffable our searchings greet. 
For the whole earth with beauty is replete, 

And all things thrill to love as young buds sprout. 

Of Nature's gifts, most bountiful is light. 
Flooding the depths of all-embracing space. 

And with rich gems studding the brow of night ; 
But only the pure eye receives its grace. 

If that be dark, all things are shut from sight. 
And gloom covers all realms and hides God's 
face. 



[45 ] 



Wisdom and Power 



THE universe, O God ! is Thy high thought j 
The unseen atoms which forever thrill, 
And work with tireless force, obey Thy will. 
And with Thy holy purposes are fraught. 

They move forever as Thy voice has taught. 
Throughout a boundless world one law fulfil. 
The soldiers of omnipotence, whose drill 

Proclaims the wisdom which all things has wrought. 

In force, in number, motion, space, and time, 
That are a part of all we feel or know. 

But which with less than God will never rhyme, 
Infinite power and wisdom overflow. 

Not less than in the mind and heart where chime 
The thought and love which truth and mercy 
show. 



[46] 



Through Simplest Means 



THROUGH simplest means God works to 
highest ends j — 
The flood of light that heaven's abysses fills, 
Is but a motion which the ether thrills, 
Whose touch through souls celestial splendor sends. 

The crash which the black clouds asunder rends, 
Is a mere wave of air such as uptrills 
From throat of bird that sings by limpid-running 
rills, 
Or in man's voice with thought and pure love 
blends. 

And the same ether which all worlds makes fair, 
And fills with beauty and with joy all eyes 

By motions gentle as the quiet air. 

Bears on its heaving breast through the deep 
skies. 

The genial warmth that calls life everywhere, 
And life's sweet food to all who live supplies. 



[47] 



Actus Purus 



E'EN so, O God, within Thy all pure sight 
The glorious spheres that glow through end- 
less space 
And in immortal youth run tireless race. 
Are but a force out thrown by Thy will's might. 

All splendor and all beauty is a light 

Shed by the radiance of Thy deep calm face 
And goodness springs from Thy infinite grace 

Which moves all souls to love the fair and right. 

As ether all unseen itself is cause 

Of overflowing light and life and heat 

Through a mere thrill, so are great Nature's laws 
Expression of a mind and will which meet 

In power absolute, where is no pause 
But a pure act, eternal and complete. 



[48] 



Divine Purpose 



SOUNDS elemental and in number few- 
Are all man needs to breathe the harmonies 
Which swell and float, tremble and sink and 
rise 
Until infinite worlds come into view, 

While to all space and time the soul bids sweet 
adieu 
To mingle with the unheard melodies 
Which spirits chant, upcaught in ecstasies 

To realms where all is good and fair and true. 

So God by act of His creative will. 

Breathes simple force, which moves through 
time and space 
And makes a universe ; with its deep thrill 

Clothing the myriad forms, in perfect grace. 
Which earth and heaven with life and beauty fill, 
Where man of His high purpose proof may 
trace. 



[49] 



Mind and Matter 



THESE harmonies are more than moving air, 
Than vibrations of atoms which none see 
Nor hope to see, yet still believe to be, 
Since thought to be itself must rest somewhere, 

And through material forms still onward fare 
To entities which have no property 
Of matter save like it they are not free, 

But else mere force and as a spirit rare. 

Thus universal order is made known 

To thought, where each to each by closest tie 

Is bound, from atoms up to suns full grown, 
All moving in celestial harmony ; 

But order can belong to minds alone 

And therefore mind 'neath matter needs must lie. 



[so] 



The World as Will 



THAT which in thought is first, is itself 
thought, 
And in the last analysis we find 
Mind present face to face with mind ; 
For nature to be understood as aught. 

To terms of intellect must aye be brought. 

As measure, color, weight, and form, and kind, 
As law and force which all the parts upbind 

To cosmic wholes with truth and beauty fraught, — 

Thus under matter spirit ever lies. 

And nature is God's fixed abiding will. 

Made visible and plain to human eyes ; 

His purposes through laws themselves fulfil. 

Moving in space, and time's immensities. 

Toward some far-off good through all the ill. 



[ SI ] 



O Boastful Science 



KEEN science here and there a secret shows, 
Which is the key that opens some shut 
door, 
Where careful nature hides her precious store 
Concealed like tender flower under snows, 

Or like a lonely heart's deep buried woes. 

And so our knowledge widens more and more, 
As men with ever-growing zeal explore 

All that with promise of a new light glows. 

O boastful Science with thy scornful brow. 

Crowned with rich gems gathered from earth and 
sea, 

Whose eager eyes the abysmal heavens plough. 
With all thy facts thou seemest strong and free; 

But if thy sovreignty I must allow. 
Teach me the secret of infinity. 



[52 ] 



A Mere Parasite 



WHEN thought, on rapid wing, through 
space up-soars 
To where the stars gleam like a candle-light, 
It sees the earth dwindle and fade from sight, 
Like solitary bird which leaves the shores 

Where it through summer played, and with swift 
oars 
Cleaves the blue heavens in its lonely flight. 
Till lost to view beyond far mountain height. 

It onward flies and other lands explores. 

What then is man but a poor parasite 

That crawls and battens on this clod unclean. 

Like other countless tribes that find delight 
In preying on himself and are unseen ? 

An insect mere, with but a pigmy's might. 
Unless upon the Eternal God he lean. 



[ 53] 



The 'Thing in Itself 



THE mystery of faith is what repels ! 
But is not mystery the bottom fact 
Of science too which in authentic act 
Confesses that it on the surface dwells, 

Nor sees the hidden fountain whence upwells 
The stream that pours its ceaseless cataract 
Through endless time and space's boundless tract, 

Nor why nor whence nor whither ever tells ? 

Knowledge but skims the foam of the wide stream 
In whose unfathomed depths broods darkest night. 

The search for central truth shows forms that seem — 
The real thing like God eludes our sight 

Till those who think become as those who dream, 
And faith in Love remains our first last light. 



[54] 



Fate and Freedom 



*' 'nr^HE strongest motive must always prevail 
A Fatally formed while we deliberate, 
Fatally moving with its fatal gait, 
To fatal choice made ever without fail." 

And yet, O Science, shall I nathless hail 
The will, which is of liberty the mate 
And free in spite of all the laws of fate : 

Self-moved o'er the wide sea it puffs its sail. 

My inmost consciousness is more to me 

Than subtle thought which spins a fragile thread ; 

Whate'er I know, I feel that I am free 
Just as I feel I live and am not dead ; 

And feeling nearer comes than what we see, 
And makes in human souls a deeper bed. 



[55 ] 



God's 'Temple 



I CANNOT shut my thought within the bound 
Of what I touch and taste and hear and see, 
But past all time and space behold it flee. 
To unseen worlds, eternal and profound; 

As though I heard God's voice in every sound 
Saw Him in every stone and plant, and tree. 
Throwing round all his own infinity. 

And making endless nature holy ground. 

I look upon the starlit sky and feel 

A thrill which can be felt but not expressed, 

I see the sun from darkness upward wheel, 
And power divine sits on his flaming crest ; 

I walk the solemn woods and straight I kneel 
In spirit, and in prayer relieve my breast. 



[56] 



God's Scholar 



BE taught of God ; He is deep wisdom's well, 
He is of love the eternal fountain-head, 
The truth with which the highest thought is 
wed ; 
With Him pure faith and hope must ever dwell. 

He is the infinite beauty whose sweet spell. 

Gives charm and life to what is seeming dead, — 
He is the balm when the sore heart has bled. 

And the sole hope when tolls death's fatal knell. 

Be taught of Him if thou wouldst truly know. 
Love Him, if thou wouldst love the perfect best. 

Seek Him if thou wouldst see fair beauty glow, 
Him follow if thou hopest to find rest j 

To Him bear all the burthen of thy woe, 

And ask, through good and ill, to be His guest. 



[57 ] 



Aspiring Faith 



DOUBT may be made to reach as far as 
thought, 
For in all thought there lies something unknown. 
On God, the soul, and nature still is thrown 
A veil that half conceals all that is sought. 

So face to face with mystery are brought 

All men ; the more they see, the more is shown 
The realm which the infinite mind alone 

Can wholly know, by whom the whole was wrought. 

Yet to believe is natural as to know, — 
Is to the soul what to the eye is light ; 

And faith, like hope, looks upward, not below, 
And in the midst of darkness yearns for sight, 

Still nursing its sweet love through joy and woe. 
Watching for dawn from the aerial height. 



[S8] 



Faith and Conduct 



THE faith we hold is built on deeds we do, 
As lofty temples rest on solid ground — 
As through earth-roots the flower is glory- 
crowned ; 
And when our life is high our creed is too ; 

For they who do the right have clearest view 
And penetrate beyond the shadowy bound 
Of phantom worlds to where God's truth is 
found, 

And taste the joy which others but pursue. 

The faith we live by is no accident 

To which attaches neither praise nor blame ; 

It is of life's deep current certain bent. 

Shaped by our deeds that hold it like a frame, 

And with pure conduct pure belief is blent. 
As in the fire commingles heat with flame. 



[59] 



T^he Light of Souls 



COLD as the dawn that through clouds slowly 
breaks 
And throws its steel-gray light on fields all dead, 
On woods whose leafy glory all has fled, 
On ruins where the clinging ivy shakes. 

In the raw wind, whose breath froths with snow- 
flakes ; 
As wintry waves, with leaden skies o'erhead ; 
As graves where love has found its hopeless bed ; 
As a lone bird on rocks 'mid frozen lakes; — 

So cold, O God ! so dreary, waste, and chill 
Were life, if human hearts felt not the glow 
Of thy sweet love and its immortal thrill 
Of hope, which, through the darkness and the woe, 
Where souls are bowed and all the boundless ill 
Gives token of the joys the angels know. 



[60] 



Divine Knowledge 



THE mind seeks truth, as light is sought of 
eyes; 
It craves for knowledge, as the heart for love ; 
Is made for it, as for the hand the glove, 
And is itself only when it is wise. 

This is its dream when looking on the skies, 
It feels a longing for the wings of dove 
To flee to the infinite worlds above, 

That searching it may learn what therein lies. 

Yet is all knowledge vain unless we know 
The Eternal Being by whom all is made. 

From whom and to whom moves the boundless 
show 
Of things that brighten and forever fade, 

Mocking the soul with the sad to and fro 

In which we win and lose the game that's played. 



[6i ] 



Knowledge and Faith 



SHALL we believe the heavens less divine 
Because earth moves and the great sun is still ? 
Or is the world less fair because mere thrill 
Of ether gives the stars the power to shine ? 

Shall diamonds with less lustre fair necks twine, 
Since we have found how Nature's cunning skill 
Black carbon's heart with light has known to fill, 

Kindling a lamp in darkness of deep mine ? 

Not so to poet's eye shall it appear, 

Whose wonder grows, with knowledge keeping 
pace ; 
Who to all truth lends an impartial ear, 

And back of law still sees God's loving grace 
Like a dim milky way when night is clear 

And all the stars look on the young moon's face. 



[62] 



Beauty 

THOUGH poetry should cease to give delight, 
And all men turn on nature the cold eye 
Of science, from which all the muses fly. 
Still shall my soul worship in beauty's sight; 

Watching from pearly dawn to dewy night. 

The glorious march of God through earth and 

sky. 
Blissful as lover, when the loved is nigh, 

Or as a poet dreaming on the height. 

When he beholds the cord of silvery stream 

Winding through meadows green and flowery 
plain. 
Where cattle graze and happy children scream. 

With intervening fields of waving grain. 
And clustering homes that 'mid white orchards 
gleam 
Fair as a virgin's face in holy fane. 



[ 63] 



Immortal 



AS a fair muse in marble statue stands, 
Changeless, through countless ages still the 
same. 
With face uplit by love's rich-glowing flame. 
Holding the lyre with tapering white hands. 

As though catching a glimpse of heavenly lands, 
She sudden still and immortal became : 
So loving souls who live free from all blame. 

Upon a day see God and break their bands. 

Then straightway they still and immortal grow. 
And at the fount of love drink deep delight : 

They are at rest nor will they farther go, 
Now that the perfect best lies in their sight, 

But upward look with eyes and hearts aglow : 
They have seen God, and know the infinite right. 



[64] 



Transformation. 



WHEN through long years we watch the set- 
ting sun, 
As day by day he passes from our sight, 
Leaving repose and blessings of the night. 
Sweet as the rest that comes when work is done. 

Peaceful as heart of meditative nun, 

Our souls are dyed in the soft, sober light. 
Until they glow like Alpine mountain height 

Bathed in rich hues, when night all else has won. 

So they, whose thought to God is ever near, 
Grow like Him, luminous, pure, and serene. 

They live in worlds where all is calm and clear 
As cloudless skies and windless streams between ; 

They walk the solemn shores of time, and hear 
The waves break on eternal shores unseen. 



[65 ] 



Et Mori Lucrum 



THE star must cease to burn with its own light 
Before it can become the dwelling-place 
Of hearts that love — beings of godlike race, 
Through its own death attaining to the height 

Of excellence, and sinking into night, 

That it may glow with a more perfect grace. 
And bear a nobler life through boundless space. 

Till time shall bring eternity in sight. 

So man, if he would truly Hve, must die. 

Descending through the grave that he may rise 

To higher worlds and dwell in purer sky ; 
Making of seeming life the sacrifice 

To share the perfect life with God on high, 
Where love divine is the infinite prize. 



[66] 



The Philosophic Mind 



THE more we know the more we serious grow ; 
All levity is mark of childish minds, 
Or else of frivolous souls whom no truth binds, 
Who drift with changing tides that come and go. 

Deep, earnest heart belongs to those who know ; 
And he who thinks, no cause for laughter finds. 
But sees the world with eyes which weeping 
blinds. 

And in all mirth discovers seeds of woe. 

Sweet wisdom never speaks in jesting tone. 
And they who into life's dark mystery 

Have looked the deepest are the first to own 
How close it touches on infinity. 

The soul stands face to face with God alone. 
Where stretches forth two-fold eternity. 



[67 ] 



God's Thrall 



IT is enough for me to know that I 
Am part of all that God has made or thought, 
A thread in nature's boundless woof inwrought, 
A tone in universal harmony, 

A voice commingling in a world-wide cry, 

A yearning which, with hope and love is fraught, 
A wave upon the breath of faith up-caught. 

And rolling onward through eternity. 

Thus to be born of God and keep the place. 
Or high or low, appointed by His will. 

To look to Him as child to mother's face. 

With a confiding heart through good and ill. 

Is bliss whether I win or lose the race. 
Since either way His purpose I fulfil. 



[68] 



Sole Refuge 



OMANY times I feel deep weariness, 
Like one who, struggling long, finds effort 
vain; 
Who of his labors reaps no fruit, but pain, 
And tastes of life only its bitterness ; 

Who knows no solace in his sore distress. 
But hopeless, kneels in a deserted fane. 
Too heavy-hearted even to complain 

Of all the deadening weight of wretchedness. 

But then, O Christ, I lift my soul to Thee : 
As a hurt child flies to a mother's breast, 

I fly to Thee with all my misery. 

Pleading with piteous voice only for rest, 

Rest from the world and all its vanity. 
That in Thy love alone I may be blest. 



[69] 



The Law of Contradiction 



FORGIVE, O God, my unbelieving heart ; — 
Not that weak doubt of thee has entrance 
there. 
For now as erst I see thee everywhere, 
And am content to live because thou art. 

But yet, unfaithful soul, I stand apart 

From thee, seeking for what is good and fair 
And finding naught more real than empty air — 

No life that can escape the fatal dart. 

O Father, look in mercy on thy child. 

Who yearns for love and yet turns not to Thee ; 

Who longs for rest, and yet is still beguiled 

By passing shows and foolish vanity ; 

Who would be pure, but is all sin-defiled ; 

Who would be free, and yet from God doth flee. 



[ 70] 



Lifes Rainbow 



THE morning star is also star of eve, 
And when brief day of life is near its close, 
We see the light which on youth's dawn first rose 
And made earth all that we of heaven believe ; 
The home where men and angels hands inweave, 
And love, like many-tinted flower, glows ; 
Where all the soul with gladness overflows. 
And faithful hearts know not how to deceive. . 

A rainbow binds the cradle with the grave : 
Faith, hope, and love the shaded colors blend : 

Beneath the airy arch the way they pave, 

Wherein we walk from birth to life's last end. 

Still seeking, finding not the thing we crave ; 
And in their light we to death's realms descend. 



[71 ] 



Homeward 



AS one who looks on boundless waste of snow, 
When all the earth is white, and through 
the sky 
The driving flakes in blinding currents fly. 
Up-caught by winds that eddy to and fro, 

And piled in drifts that ever higher grow, 
Until all things far as can reach the eye 
In one great winding-sheet deep buried lie. 

Sees with glad heart, afar his hearth fire glow. 

Conscious of the warm love that nestles there ; 

So human souls, looking on wintry space. 
And chilled by fickle blasts of time, turn where. 
Through ali the dark and doubt and woe, God's 
face 
Appears eternal, patient, and all fair. 

Though in the gloom. His being they dimly 
trace. 



[72 ] 



Creative Love 



GOD must be love, for only love has power 
From nothing to create a world all fair, 
And to make common things sweet as the air 
Of orchards in the spring when blossoms shower j 

To give to dullest words the heavenly dower 
Of fresh immortal truth ; to clothe the bare 
Dead earth with beauty such as flowers wear 

When seen by lovers' eyes in leafy bower. 

Let men but love, and let that love remain. 
And all they dream of heaven they may know 

In this terrestrial life, which is not vain. 

As loveless souls have thought, but all aglow 

With God's own presence, which transfigures pain. 
And makes the highest bliss of deepest woe. 



[ 73] 



Mother Love 



IN the dark night sitting on dewy spray 
With her sweet brood, the bird turns wistful 
eye 
Towards the east, to see if dawn be nigh 
And she through rosy heavens may take her way, 

And ply her task of love in open day 

While in their leafy bowers her fledglings lie. 
Or call her back with hungry, helpless cry. 

Impatient if she make e'en brief delay. 

But she herself is eager to return 

And fill their open mouths — This was her dream 
The while she watched to see the sun upburn 

From out the chilly night — sweet was the gleam 
Because it brought her light, wherein to earn 

Them food in meadow or by purling stream. 



C 74] 



PRELUDES TO BOOK SECOND 



Immortal Task 



THEN only should I hopeless sorrow know, 
If, having reached the farthest height 
To which a mind athirst for God may grow, 
There blew the breath of endless night. 

Upward to move along a widening way 
Where love and knowledge still increase. 

And clouds and darkness yield to fuller day, 
Is more than wealth or fame or peace. 

No other blessing shall I ever ask : 
This is the best that life can give; 

This only is the soul's immortal task 
For which 'tis worth the pain to live. 



[77] 



Not Death but Life 



THERE is no hope except in God ; 
Life craves for life, 
And all the ways that men have trod 
With death are rife. 

Between each man and his own tomb 

Mere shadow lies ; 
The thing we love is flower's bloom, 

Which springing dies. 

We look into the future time 
And see a grave ; 

Then we look back to youth's fair prime- 
Dead all it gave. 

So future and the past both show 

That death is all ; 
Over life's joy and all its woe 

There lies a pall. 

We walk amid a cloud of dreams 

Which hides the light, 
But when the real truth out-gleams, 

We see 't is night. 

[ 78] 



We cannot love, but death is there 

With cold disdain ; 
We cannot hope, but he will stare 

To show 't is vain. 

Our life is but a life in death. 

Only life's dream ; 
We cease to live with every breath. 

To live but seem. 

There is no hope except in God : 

He is the light ; 
If He were not, earth were a clod, 

And all were night. 



[79] 



In Vain 



IN vain thou hopest peace on earth to find : 
Nor youth, nor power, nor wealth, nor friend, 
Can make thee to thy earthly misery blind ; 
For God who made thee is thy end. 

Plunge boldly in the battle's storm and win 
The blood-stained crown of victory. 

And voice of fame shall jar like a harsh din 
On thee, made for infinity. 

Find gold, and let thy marble palace shine 
Like radiant sunlit mountain height ; 

Wear costly vesture and drink richest wine. 
Still peace upon thee shall not light. 

Dry tears of weeping eyes and hearts console, 

Soothe sorrow and the hungry feed. 
Give to the poor of all thy goods the whole ; 

The more shalt thou feel thy own need. 

Bend all thy thoughts to search for truth — to learn 

Whatever may by man be known ; 
Then from the farthest point of knowledge turn. 

To see how all thy joy has flown. 

[80 ] 



Love beauty, revel in the realms of art, 

Of all that speaks to eye or ear ; 
Mere forms can never soothe an aching heart. 

Nor make a phantom world less drear. 

Seek pleasure, dive into the crystal stream 
To ease thy sorrow and thy pain ; 

The rapid waters that so brightly gleam 
Will soil thy life with loathsome stain. 

Mingle with men in gayest company. 

Where time is winged with dance and song ; 

And feel the weight of dull satiety. 
Oppressive like the sense of wrong. 

Make to the world confession of thy woes. 
And hither bear thy miseries too ; 

Alas ! the heedless world no pity knows. 
And is not softened by thy rue. 

Then rest within thyself and bear thy pain ; 

All human woe, like joy, is brief; 
But sufferer like lover would be twain. 

For worst is solitary grief. 

Go seek a woman's love and thine arms twine 
Thy fair and blooming children round ; 

[ 8' ] 



Lo ! the dark form of death with deed malign 
Shall make thy love all sorrow-crowned. 

Why art thou sad, my soul ? Why troublest me ? 

I have no power to help or save ; 
Look up to God and to His presence flee, 

If thou repose and peace dost crave. 



[82] 



BOOK SECOND 



The Higher Way 



ENOUGH there are on earth who reap and 
sow, 
Enough who give their lives to common gain, 
Enough who toil with spade or axe or plane. 
Enough who sail the seas where rude winds blow; 

Enough who make their life unmeaning show, 
Enough who plead in courts, who physic pain, 
Enough who follow in the lover's train. 

And taste of wedded hearts the bliss or woe. 

A few at least may hark the poet's song. 
May walk with him their visionary guide, 

Far from the crowd, nor do the world a wrong ; 
Or on his wings, through deep blue skies may 
glide. 

And float by light transfused like clouds along 
Above the earth and over oceans wide. 



[8s ] 



Goa's in His World 



THE world is fair as on the primal day — 
Weak human thought may sadden human 
souls, 
But the infinite universe enrolls 
Along its high-appointed ancient way, 

Holding o'er hearts an undiminished sway, 
Atremble still between two unseen poles — 
God and the soul — and all our hopes controls, 

U plighting death with life's eternal ray. 

I look and idle systems all forget, 

The boundless harmonies alone I hear. 

Sweet as the dew with which the flowers are wet. 
And as the dreams and loves of childhood dear \ 

I watch the stars rise and I see them set. 

And know that God is here and have no fear. 



[86] 



God's and Nature's Guest 



O LOOK— the world is full of God's dear 
grace ; 
Fair is the spring, her fragrant flowers are fair ; 
And autumn with his crown of yellow hair, 
Drinking rich wine from overflowing vase. 

Pure sunlight rests upon great nature's face ; 

Sweet is bright water, and the balmy air ; 

The bird, the bee, the child sing everywhere, 
And stars like hope gleam through infinite space. 

A mother's love is good ; a virgin's heart ; 

A friend who leans upon a friend finds rest: 
In every thing each one has his own part, 

And all, if they but strive, may have the best — 
Faith, hope, and love, — God's counterpart. 

And be of nature and of Him the guest. 



[87] 



Earth's Crammed With God 

HOW often in the pleasant air of spring, 
Just when the sun tinges the eastern hills, 
And with one look the heart of nature thrills. 
Do I not feel it were not wrong to fling 

Myself prostrate and with deep worship sing, 
While all the rising flood of glory fills 
The earth and sky, awakening voice of rills. 

Of birds, of bees, who all their homage bring ? 

O dull of sense ! God's heaven is most near; 

Pure spirits look and see the splendors shine 
Around us now, and the high music hear, 

That make the earth and all it holds divine ; — 
The world is heaven if we but see clear. 

And every common thing a holy shrine. 



[88] 



The Spirit of Morning 



HOW many a time, just when the sun up- 
glows, 
I gently brush away my own sweet sleep, 
And walk into the balmy air, knee-deep 
In clover, rich and fragrant as the rose. 

Along a little stream which, singing, flows 

Beneath o'ershadowing trees whose green boughs 

keep 
Their silent watch, while the young sunbeams 
peep 
Through leaves, to kiss the wave that prattling goes. 

O then, I hear the song of birds, the low 
Of cattle, and the hum of early bees ; 

Of fresh-awakened flowers I catch the glow, 
And feel the odorous kiss of morning breeze ; 

The startled air sends forth the cock's shrill crow. 
And the whole earth with joyful thoughts agrees. 



[89] 



The Voice of Evening 



HOW many times, when the great sun stoops 
low 
Behind the purple hills, in the cool air, 
With quiet steps through peaceful fields I fare, 
Along a stream whose waters whispering flow. 

While birds, seeking their nests, flit to and fro 
Through the dim twilight, and the cattle wear 
A look of peace as though they felt God's care, 

And one by one the heavenly lamps up-glow. 

O then I feel the sweep of angels' wings. 
Shedding blest fragrance on my weary head ; 

Then in my soul a boundless yearning springs. 
To see and know again my holy dead. 

To whose green memory my heart still clings. 
As true as when first for their loss it bled. 



[ 9°] 



Visions of Childhood 



FOR many blessings I to God upraise 
A thankful heart j the life He gives is fair 
And sweet and good, since He is everywhere, 
Still with me even in the darkest ways. 

But most I thank Him for my earliest days, 
Passed in the fields and in the open air. 
With flocks and birds and flowers, free from all 
care. 

And glad as brook that through a meadow strays. 

O balmy air, O orchards white with bloom, 
O waving fields of ever-varying green, 

O deep, mysterious woods, whose leafy gloom 
Invites to pensive dreams of worlds unseen, 

To thoughts as solemn as the silent tomb. 
No power from you my heart can ever wean ! 



[91] 



The Mellow^ Hazy Days 



O GLORIOUS autumn woods, whose myriad 
hues 
U plight the face of earth with richer glow 
Than may be seen when spring's sweet flowers 
blow. 
And wear the jewelled crown of pearly dews ! 

How tender, pure the thoughts which you infuse 
Into the soul, bringing the long-ago 
With all its memories of joy and woe, 

Until the vision the whole heart subdues ! 

So soon the mellow, hazy days shall die : 

The frost shall crisp your many-tinted leaves. 

And howling blasts with all their glory fly. 

And you shall stand like one whom death be- 
reaveSy 

Outstretching trembling hands to the dark sky, 
Which gives no sign however much he grieves. 



[92] 



Beautiful Death 



O PAINTER, paint me autumn woods when 
now 
Yellow and green, russet and gold and red, 
And purple and brown, and all the glory shed 
Upon the world makes earth like heaven's brow ; 

When every tree and every separate bough 
Glow like the sunset skies when day has fled, 
And mellow light with sense of peace is wed. 

While grateful hearts their love to God avow. 

O paint me this, that I may ever see 
The vision fair, where life in its decay 

Speaks not of death, but immortality ; 
More richly glowing on its dying day 

Than when spring sang of beauty yet to be. 

And all the flowers close wrapped and hidden lay. 



[93] 



Consoling Power of Beauty 



LET sorrow come when spring calls forth her 
flowers. 
And soft white clouds float through the bending 

skies, 
When laughing children greet with glad surprise 
The happy earth kissed by fresh April showers ; 

Or when rich autumn dreams away the hours, 
And through the quiet air, with great wide eyes. 
Looks on the fields where the reaped harvest lies, 

'Mid mellow fruit gleaming in leafy bowers. 

For then my heart in nature refuge finds, 
And is consoled by her deep soul of peace ; 

But when fierce winter comes with howling winds, 
And light and joy with shortening days decrease, 

And driving snow the eye of heaven blinds, 
O then from pain and grief send sweet release. 



[94] 



Life's Dewy Dawn 



LIFE'S morning is like the pure dawn of day, 
That breaks in cold gray light in eastern 
skies, 
And glows to warmer hues till darkness dies, 
Transpierced by the uprising sun's keen ray. 

Then the whole earth rejoicing takes its way, 
Moving to music of the myriad cries 
Of gladness which in world-wide concert rise 

From groves and gem-besprinkled bush and spray. 

Thus young eyes see the world create anew, 
Upglowing from the hand of God all fair. 

And springing like a heaven to mortal view 
Where is nor death, nor sorrow, nor despair. 

But life o'erflowing fresh as glistening dew, 
And sweet as fragrance of the morning air. 



[95] 



Beauty's Promise 



ALL beauty is a promise of delight, 
A prophecy of the infinite bliss, 
Which here we seek, and seeking ever miss — 
The dawn forth springing from the brow of night, 

The moon that swims above the mountain height, 
The stars aglow in heaven's deep abyss. 
The fair-eyed child who greets us with a kiss. 

The flowers, the birds, the brooks, the orchards 
white ; 

Flocks grazing or at rest in the cool shade. 
Autumnal woods, and waving golden grain, 

Pure brow of youth, and ruby lips of maid. 

The quiet fields that drink the showery rain, — 

These and all fairest earthly things that fade, 
Foretell a world where joy shall swallow pain. 



[96] 



Lifes Goodness 



LIFE'S goodness never shall I doubt again : 
Whatever fate to me the future bring, 
Whatever depth of woe or suffering, 
Sweet memory shall soften all my pain. 

The days when I upon the grass have lain. 

Watching the clouds and breathing air of spring. 
Beneath the spreading trees where blithe birds 
sing, 

Still light my path and make the dark way plain. 

Only a boundless love could grant the boon 
To look once even on a world so fair. 

And though black night should fall on my full noon 
And all my hope should vanish into air. 

Still will I praise Thee, Lord, until I swoon 
In death, and see Thy goodness everywhere. 



[97 ] 



The Bane of Possession 



HOW many thoughts I greet and cherish long, 
Living with them as with my dearest 
friends, 
Whose love for many sorrows makes amends, 
Nor ever lonely while they round me throng ; 

But when at whiles I weave them into song. 
Their beauty fades, nor longer pleasure lends : 
And like a face that over dead face bends 

I look, knowing that life here once was strong. 

We pluck the flower and all its freshness dies ; 

We grasp the form we love, and phantom find ; 
Under the smiling face a death's head lies. 

And God is good in that He makes us blind. 
No fame, nor joy, nor hope, nor love but flies 

The touch of man : be wise and be resigned. 



[98] 



The 'Essential Good 



WE must fear God ; all hope on Him must 
rest; 
Yet they serve not who serve Him but from fear, 
Nor they who ask of Him aught that is dear, 
Unless Himself be found in the request. 

If He give not Himself, no gift is blest; 

All good is far, if He be not most near ; 

All days are dark, unless He make them clear ; 
And without Him, all men still lack the best. 

The absence of His love makes hell's deep pain — 
If we could love Him there, sorrow would cease. 

The loss of Him makes loss all other gain. 
And dedicates to death life's whole increase. 

In tangled web of thought this still is plain : 
That without God there is nor hope, nor peace. 

.0! -. 



[99] 



Athirst For God 



AS flowers bud and open to the light ; 
As tender child looks to a mother's eye 
For love and goodness which there hidden lie ; 
As exiles dream of home through the long night ; 

As who in darkness wander yearn for sight 

Of the sweet gleam which tells them friends are 

nigh; 
As captives in their gloomy prisons sigh 

For glimpse of earth and sky and all things bright : 

So does the soul, O God ! still thirst for Thee. 

All effort, knowledge, faith, hope, love, desire 
Are boundless in their aim, and so must be. 

For through all forms to Thee we all aspire, 
Looking beyond to Thy infinity. 

To find life's partial good in Thee entire. 



[ TOO ] 



A Strong Anchor 



RENOUNCE all hope of pleasure, wealth, and 
fame 
And look to God, and work to do His will; 
As a true servant thy set task fulfil ; 
Be this thy single thought and thy sole aim, 

Careless alike of praise of men, or blame. 
Assured that in the heart lie good and ill. 
And on pure souls wait heavenly powers still. 

To light the way with their celestial flame. 

If the sweet voice of conscience whisper well. 
The soul is glad and the whole world is fair. 

Though sorrows like black waves around us swell. 
And clouds with ruin charged sweep through the 
air. 

Anchored on God in peace secure we dwell. 
Knowing that He of all our life has care. 



[ 10. ] 



The Void Between 



'WJ HEN from the gloom of earth we see the 

The happy stars seem each to other near, 
And their low-whispered words we almost hear, 
As in sweet company they smile or sigh. 

Alas ! infinite worlds between them lie, 
And solitary each within its sphere 
Rolls lonely ever onward without cheer, 

Is born, and lives and dies with no one near. 

E'en so men's souls seem close together bound. 
But worlds immeasurable lie between. 

And each is centre in a void profound. 
Wherein he lonely lives sad or serene, 

And, planet-like, moves higher centre round. 

Whence light he draws as from the sun night's 
Queen. 



[ I02 ] 



T^he Incommunicable Heart 



OUR holiest thoughts and tenderest loves are 
known 
Not e'en to those who day by day are near 
As friends and kinsmen whom we hold most dear, 
And to whose eyes our life is clearly shown. 

In their sweet company we are alone, 
Like one upshut within himself by fear ; 
Who breathes his secret not to his own ear. 

And feels what to himself he does not own. 

So incommunicable is the heart 

In its infinite hopes and loves and fears ; 

An exile who yearns ever to depart 

For some far land loved in the vanished years, 

Bearing his joy and all his bitter smart 

To God, to whom he looks through blinding tears. 



[ '03 ] 



Disenchantment 



IN effort lies the purest soul of joy : 
Our life is but a tendency, an aim, 
And they who live for fame have more than fame 
Can bring, whose certain gift is sore annoy. 

What we desire seems good, though but a toy, 

As players sitting at a silly game 

With sad hearts lose, and win with hearts aflame. 
Though paltry nothings be their whole employ. 

From what we have we turn to what we lack. 
And in the midst of wealth are beggars still ; 

From heights we gain, we look regretful back 
To lowly vales where brooks their waters spill ; 

Each victory leads on to new attack. 

And all our good serves but to show our ill. 



[ 104 ] 



Sad Seekers 



OUR life is narrow and our thought is wide, 
And what we are still wars with the high 
dream 
Which opens other worlds that ever seem 
More beautiful than this where we abide. 

We are sad seekers who blind fortune chide, 
That casts her richest gifts into the stream 
Of chance, where they with momentary gleam, 

Our hopes invite and then our hearts deride. 

And if some lucky diver fetch a prize 

From the devouring wave, he is not blest ; 

But wipes the dripping water from his eyes. 

Nor sees the thing of which he plunged in quest; 

Thus fortune gives but what she aye denies. 
For all men find that thev still lack the best. 



[i°5 ] 



The Soul's Magnetic Pole 



THE having all the good that money buys 
Deadens the sense of need of higher things, 
As o'er-fed bird forgets the use of wings, 
And pampered steed or sulks or the track flies. 

Who comfort loves will never win the prize : 
From self-denying toil true honor springs, 
And greatest wealth can make but money-kings — 

No primrose path leads where God's heaven lies. 

Let not then poverty be held a curse, — 
The body needs but little, and the soul 

Would hunger though it owned a nation's purse 
Like one who dies of thirst where oceans roll. 

Its wants are greater than the universe. 
And God, not gold, is its magnetic pole. 



[ i°6] 



Infinite Hope 



WHY is the heart's interpreter a sigh ? 
Why love itself akin to misery ? 
Why in all sadness is there melody ? 
Why do the sweetest hours most quickly fly ? 

Why enter we the world with piteous cry, 
As though we felt 't were better not to be ? 
Why at the end, this one word — Vanity ? 

Why on all ways we walk do shadows lie ? 

We are tormented by infinite hope, 

And less than God seems not to be at all ; 

Eternity of all our life is scope. 

And what must die wears even now death's pall ; 

All paths we tread downward to darkness slope, 
And all is nought, or God is all in all. 



[ 107 ] 



Infinite Teaming 



O HIGHEST joy ! why art thou still so near 
To deepest woe ? why does all happiness 
Bring dread of loss and the fond heart oppress ? 
Why in all gladness is there sense of fear ? 

Why at life's feast must death's dark shade appear ? 

In pleasure's bowers why sits dull weariness ? 

When all is ours why feel we still distress ? 
In laughing eyes why is there found a tear ? 

Immortal God ! we are akin to Thee, 

And only what eternal is can still 
The infinite craving of the soul, or free 

The yearning heart from wretchedness and ill : 
As streams are restless till they reach the sea, 

Repose for man is none save in Thy will. 



I io8] 



Infinite Mystery 



THE highest thoughts remain unuttered still, 
For words but half reveal the truth we see. 
Which ever centres in infinity, 
As to the ocean flows e'en smallest rill. 

God, and the wide expanse of heaven, fill 
Each human soul with their deep mystery ; 
The nearer we approach, the farther flee, 

And like fixed laws of nature mock the will. 

Therefore, O poets, all in vain ye strive 

To shut in narrow verse the boundless fact. 

That is and touches every soul aUve 

With sense that it is God's creative act ; 

And they who overbold have hoped to dive 

To central truth have best discernment lacked. 



[ 109 ] 



Alone with God 



LOVE still thy friends, but learn to stand alone, 
With none to be thy stay in utmost need 
Save God : nor think that any loving deed 
Will bind the heart when power to help is gone. 

As by thy grave no one will stay to moan 

Thy death, nor to thy memory long give heed ; 
E'en such, from dearest ones will be the meed 

For all thy love, once prosperous days have flown. 

When fortune flies and leaves us weak and bare, 
Friends follow her, and from us fall away. 

As men shun poverty, disease, and care. 

And look from darkness to the coming day. 

Trusting its rising will be bright and fair; 
While we are left alone with God to pray. 



[ "o] 



T^he Soul's Home 



WE long for rest and yet seek not repose ; 
We sorely grieve that all things pass 
away, 
And yet with what abides we will not stay ; 
The play begins — we ask when will it close. 

In summer's heat we yearn for winter's snows ; 
In the dark night we dream of coming day j 
From the full noon we turn to eve's soft ray, 

And what we are what we might be but shows. 

Infinity, O God, is the soul's home, 
And like all exiles we are ill at ease ; 

In phantom worlds we needs must restless roam. 
Since here Thy boundless truth we cannot seize, 

And of thy ocean may but see the foam, 

Upcaught and blown about by shifting breeze. 



[Ill] 



A Wanderer 



A 



S a poor child, torn from a mother's br ast, 
And borne far off where all is strange and 
new. 
With tear-dimmed eyes still holds her face m 
view, 
Remembering her as the sole perfect best ; 

E'en so, afar from God, we cannot rest. 
But like sad exiles with our tears bedew 
All lands save that alone from which we drew 

The breath of life, and were of love the guest. 

The soul is a lone wanderer here on earth ; 

When it has all, it feels that all is vain. 
In some far higher world it had its birth. 

And is forlorn till its lost home it gain. 
It smiles through tears and sighs at its own mirth, 

And in all pleasure suffers hidden pain. 



C "H 



Death's Pilgrim 



LOOK on thyself as one to death devote; 
Death's pilgrim art thou : in life's rapid 
stream, 
Thy days are cast, and like rain bubbles gleam 
A moment, then with the dark current float 

To unknown oceans boundless and remote : 

Know this and make escape from earth's sad 

dream, 
Where all things quickly pass and do but seem ; 

Be this for feverish life thy antidote. 

Uplift thy heart to heaven's eternal throne, 
Where truth and love and justice ever stay, 

Where what is thine forever is thy own ; 

So shall thy thoughts and deeds grow pure as day. 

So to thy soul the infinite Best be shown. 

And thou at rest with God shalt dwell alway. 



["3] 



Evanescence 



AS a fair mountain bathed in golden light, 
What time the great round sun sinks to his 
rest, 
Like noble man leaving a world he blessed, 
Seems not to fade, yet soon is hid from sight : 

So passes gleam of life with rapid flight. 

This moment bright, the next of death the guest, 
And like brief day swallowed in the dark west, 

Buries its glory in the tomb of night. 

O emptiness ! O forms that rise and seem. 
Then fleet like shadows cast by floating cloud. 

Or like swift waters of fast-flowing stream ! 
O friends of mine, why wear ye still a shroud, 

While all my hope and love melt to a dream. 
Where dying hearts over the dead are bowed ! 



[ "4] 



Oblivion 



AS curling smoke uprising through the air. 
From cottage roof hidden among the trees, 
Is seen a moment, then forever flees. 
Nor leaves behind e'en shadow anywhere ; 

So gayly forth upon life's journey fare 

We all, soothed by sweet songs, refreshed by 
breeze. 

And thinking the whole world made for our ease. 
When death us buries, ere we are aware. 

A little while some faithful watching eye 
Will fix its gaze upon the empty spot 

Where erst we stood, some bosom heave a sigh. 
Looking with sadness on the grassy plot. 

Where vanished quite we in deep darkness lie : 
Then like the fading smoke we are forgot. 



[ "5] 



Deepening Shadows 



IN youth we long to mingle heart and mind 
With other hearts and minds , and yearn for 
friends, 
As light with light, and heat with heat, still blends ; 
Nor dream that they can ever grow unkind. 

But as we onward move we surely find 

That only soul of youth this deep trust lends. 
For loss of which nothing can make amends ; 

And we walk on leaving sweet joy behind. 

Along our pathway prison walls uprise. 

And funeral monuments that mock our love ; 

'Mid deepening shadows the dark journey lies, 
While we pass on lonely as Noah's dove ; 

To our despairing cries no voice replies : 
Then we remember God, and look above. 



[ ii6] 



God's Handiwork 



O NATURE, cried St. Augustine, art thou 
The God, whom my deep yearning soul 
desires ? 
And ye, O Stars, that sing in heavenly choirs, 
May I adoring to your mystery bow ? 

And ye, great poets, on whose glowing brow 

The light of genius gleams \ who touch the lyres 
That kindle in the heart immortal fires. 

Can ye my soul with perfect peace endow ? 

Not we, are God, they said ; we come and go, 
Are born and die ; but God abides for aye ; 

Above us thou must rise, if thou wouldst know 
Repose and peace which never pass away : 

We are the rays that from His light outflow. 
And He alone is the eternal day. 



[ "7 ] 



The Light of the Soul 



IN cloudless sky, at early dawn, I have seen 
The crescent moon hang like a silver bovi^. 
While in the east new day began to throw 
Athwart the dark his arrows of bright sheen : 

The stars grew dim, but their celestial queen 
Still held her face to where the horizon's glow 
Shone like a mountain height whose virgin snow 

Is kissed by the low sun with blushing mien. 

So the pure soul to God forever turns. 

All luminous with' His eternal light. 
And with a growing paleness ceaseless yearns 

To see His face up-glow from out the night j 
And when at last the vision it discerns, 

Loses itself m beatific sight. 



L "8] 



Appearance and Reality 



WE live and move in worlds our fancy makes, 
And see not things as in themselves they 
are; 
But think a candle great as is a star, 
And vi^hen earth trembles the whole heaven shakes. 

As one who sleeping oft believes he wakes. 
And sees again as near friends who are far. 
Or opens doors shut with death's fatal bar, 

So through all light of mind dark error breaks. 

Mock not the poet then because he dreams. 
And lives in realms fairer than is our own. 

For all confuse what is, with what but seems. 
And the whole truth to none on earth is known ; 

Of God as of the stars we catch but gleams. 
And of His voice but faintest undertone 



[ "9] 



Irreparable Loss 



GRIEVE not that flowers quickly fade and die, 
That leaves must fall at end of summer day. 
That hours of joy must quickly fly away. 
Since hastening time most swiftly hurries by, 

When loving hearts in fragrant bowers are nigh : 
Grieve not for this, but for the vanished May 
Of thy young soul, so soon gone far astray 

From the pure love and hope and promise high 

Of noble life, which filled thy breast with flame. 
And kindled thoughts and purposes divine. 

Alas ! forever flown is the high aim 

To make thy heart of purest light the shrine. 

Where bending angels might pronounce thy name. 
And God Himself eternally be thine. 



[ I20 ] 



From Evil, Good 



AS he whose love, whose all-the-world Is dead, 
Looks on the flowery spring and azure sky, 
And all earth's beauty with unconscious eye, 
Seeing it not because of one who fled, 

And, fleeing, left but loneliness and dread — 
An empty world where torturing memory 
Brings back the blessings that in dark graves lie 

Like autumn leaves in wintry torrent's bed ; 

Such were, O God, the universe for me. 

Could I through faith and hope and love not 
trace 

Thy living presence everywhere and see 
Even in ill some touch of Thy dear grace. 

Which teaches us through our own misery 
To love all noble things and shun the base. 



[ 121 ] 



The Price of Excellence 



MOST precious stones and richest pearls lie 
deep 
In earth or sea, and with much toil are sought : 
Great knowledge with great labor must be bought, 
And they must plow and sow who hope to reap. 

To reach the height we must up-climb the steep : 
Heroic deeds are with most danger fraught ; 
Best wisdom by much suffering is taught. 

And they who love must be prepared to weep. 

There is no excellence save through sore pain. 
And shall we hope to find the way to God, 

The pleasant way that leads through flowery plain, 
And not the rugged path the Saviour trod ? 

Who seeks himself, with Christ can never reign. 
Whose love is felt by him who feels His rod. 



[ 122 ] 



Though but a Dream 



I HEAR a thousand wrangling voices say 
That God's great shadow from the world 
must fall, 
Where it has lain for ages like a pall 5 
That then shall come to man the fuller day. 

Science has soared beyond the milky-way. 
And heard in space, but its own echoes call ; 
From atoms up to suns it has weighed all, 

And finds the universe is made of clay. 

But still man feels a soul within his breast, 

And as all waters into ocean pour, 
All souls in God must ever seek for rest ; 

And if He were a dream and nothing more, 
Of all that is, this dream were still the best 

Left in worlds dead and rotten at the core. 



[ '23 ] 



Eternal Hope 



IF hope were the sole boon religion brings, 
Hope that the end of all is life and light, 
That dawn shall break through universal night, 
Hope that the fount of being upward springs 

Through graves and ruins and the wreck of things 
Borne ever God-ward with increasing might 
Till all we yearn for lies within full sight, 

And the glad soul its song of triumph sings, — 

If naught but hope like this religion gave, 
Of all we know or dream of it were best, 

Though all our life be swallowed in the grave. 
Life a brief day that sinks in the dark west. 

Dying forever in the gloomy wave, 

And of mere nothingness eternal guest. 



[ 124] 



Low-Bedded 



AS a pure stream uprising 'mid the hills, 
Flows downward till it find a lower bed, 
Then turbid grows, far from the source which 
fed 
The gentle murmurings of its new-born rills ; 

So from creative voice of God down trills 
The soul all-pure ; then to its prison led, 
Mingles with earth, far from the fountain-head. 

Till the coarse contact all its beauty kills. 

Thou know'st, O God, the dust in which we lie 
Imbedded and deep soiled, with scarce a gleam 

Distinguishable of divinity; 

So faint Thy image in the troubled stream, 

We hesitate to claim descent so high. 

Remembering Thee like half-forgotten dream. 



[125] 



The Goal 



OFTEN I stand alone by flowing stream 
And listen to the whispered words it speaks ; 
Telling how in the far off mountain peaks 
It first uprose where the young eaglets scream, 

And onward sprang through cliffs and rocky seam, 
Now falling from the dizzy height with shrieks 
And now lost in the sands of sluggish creeks. 

But moving still to where the wide seas gleam. 

So should the current of man's Hfe onflow ; 

Obedient to the eternal force that draws 
It ever to the best through weal and woe, 

Holding its course without or rest or pause 
To that true world where God Himself will show 

The end of all, as He of all is cause. 



[126] 



Strength and Love 



WHATEVER come, my soul, make no 
complaint. 
But bear with a strong heart all thou must bear, 
Nor think that others will thy burthen share, 
If under the too heavy weight thou faint. 

With worst that may befall thyself acquaint. 
And know no days are dark if thou be fair. 
That outward things do but the soul ensnare. 

And have within themselves, a mortal taint. 

Seek then not happiness, but follow right ; 

Fearless and calm, howe'er misunderstood ; 
Only the weak are sensitive of slight 

And children would buy sweets by being good ; 
Without a thought of self live in God's sight 

Toiling for the whole human brotherhood. 



[ 127 J 



Death in Life 



WHO lives in sensual delights is dead ; — 
The tree has life, but hears not the bird's 
song, 
Deaf to the notes that through its branches 
throng. 
And blind to the blue sky which bends above its 
head. 

The bird has life, and sees the boughs outspread, 
And trills its music the green leaves among ; 
But thought and hope and faith do not belong 

To the low world by which its life is fed. 

So he who sinks his soul in matter mere. 

Lives like a tree, and is both deaf and blind ; 

Lives like a bird, and finds in worms his cheer. 
Forever dead to the pure world of mind. 

Where truth and love shine through the heavens 
clear. 
And faith and hope about all things are twined. 



[ '28] 



The Soul's Delight 



WHO in the senses live can never know 
The immortal spirit's pure and high 
delight, 
As they who dwell in darkness turn from light 
Of day, and suffer not the sun's rich glow. 

The limpid stream alone will truly show 

What is reflected there from plain and height. 
And only stainless minds can bear the sight 

Of spiritual worlds where souls to God up-grow. 

To know, to love, to hope, and to believe. 

Make glad the heart : to touch, to taste, to dwell 

In things of sense, and with desire to cleave 
To matter mere, is to be infidel 

To the pure soul, which ever yearns to leave 
The earth, and soar to Heaven's high citadel. 



[ 129 ] 



Like to Like 



THE soul grows like the things it holds most 
dear, 
And is as is its love, or foul or fair. 
Gross as a noisome weed, or light as air, 
Now creeps 'mid low desires in servile fear, 

Now rises on strong wings through heavens clear, 
Leaving the earth with all its weight of care 
To taste delights which only spirits share, 

Who to each other and to God are near. 

Love justice then, truth and sweet purity, — 
An unseen spirit thou seek good unseen. 

So shall thy real self become all free 

And move above base passions like a queen, 

Upborne to higher worlds where facts agree 

With thought and hope, and love with what we 
ween. 



[ 130 ] 



A Perpetual Feast 



GOD'S righteous law makes true life one with 
joy 5 
For happiness belongs to those whose feet 

Tread duty's path, even if there they meet 
With rocky heights that weary and annoy. 

The feast of conscience pure doth never cloy ; 
The innocent are nourished with the wheat, 
That makes hearts glad as loving souls that 
greet, 

And all the heavenly powers lend them convoy. 

Self-torturing men ! Why can we never learn 
That blessedness is near as our own heart, 

Since all right life must ever true bliss earn. 
While joy and sin lie aye whole worlds apart : 

Alas that we this truth may not discern, 
But sail a treacherous sea without a chart. 



[131] 



PRELUDES TO BOOK THIRD 



Infinity. 

NOW night comes draped in gloom, 
And star on star awakes : 

what deep yearnings bloom, 
When she her mantle shakes ! 

Through boundless worlds my soul 
Sweeps, like lone bird that flies 

To far-off hidden goal. 
Dreaming of fairer skies. 

1 am akin to all. 

To all these countless spheres ; 
I hear their mystic call 

Through all the vanished years. 

Beyond the utmost bounds. 

Of fancy's farthest flight. 
Their melody resounds 

Through co-eternal night. 

The light that makes them fair, 

Their voiceless harmony 
God's perfect love declare 

In unheard minstrelsy. 
[ '35 ] 



O stars ! whose silent gleam 
Falls like eternal peace 

Upon life's fitful dream, 

Whose troubles never cease ! 

The hymning angels quire 
Amid your orbs of light, 

And mingle with their fire 
The spirit's pure delight. 

O Thou, Thou only God, 
Show Thou Thyself to me ; 

Break through this earthy clod. 
Let gleam infinity. 



[ 136] 



Deaths S corners and Lovers. 

DEATH, whom the wicked shun, 
And happy hearts most fear, 
To thee great heroes run 
Nor reck thy fatal spear. 

Anger mocks at thy dart. 

And true love scorns thy threat, 

And honor will not start 

When thou thy scythe dost whet. 

The miser loves his gold 

More than he dreads thy face ; 

And proud men ever hold 
Thee better than disgrace. 

The wretched turn to thee 

Through the deep gloom of night, 
To end their misery 

Or hide it from their sight. 

E'en weariness can make 
Thee not unwelcome guest. 

And from thy features take 
All save their look of rest. 
[ 137 ] 



And wise men look to thee 
To learn the worth of life, 

And to thy shadow flee 

From all the ceaseless strife. 

But saints love thee the best, 
And call thee sweetest names. 

Baring the naked breast 
To all thy mortal aims. 

Not Death, but Life they see 
Awakening from a sleep, 

Forevermore to be 

Where seraphs vigil keep. 



[ 138] 



Seen and Unseen, 



A TWOFOLD world around me lies 
The world I see, and the unseen ; 
The one up-glows before my eyes, 
The other hides behind a screen. 

I walk in midst of boundless show, 

Of rising and of setting suns, 
And watch the seasons come and go. 

While fleeting time forever runs. 

The ethereal pomp of stars at night. 
Whose silent glory fills all space. 

Breaks on me like a mystic light 
Shed from God's high eternal face. 

I move in their great company : 

My heart follows with rhythmic beat 

Their process through immensity. 
Towards some far-off central seat. 

And all around me mountains lie, 
And rivers, and the seas and plains, 

And clouds that fill the changing sky. 
Or drop to earth in fruitful rains : 
[ 139 ] 



And busy men, and works of man, 
The crowded city with its mart. 

With all that human minds can plan, 
And heavenly forms of godlike art. 

The other world, which is unseen. 
More real is, and nearer, too ; 

It is the inner beauty's sheen 
Of all we love or know as true. 

Its centre and circumference 

Is God ; its habitants are souls : 

He is the whither and the whence. 
From whom to whom existence rolls. 

The light of stars, the moon's soft light, 
The glory of the rising day, 

The azure hue of mountain height. 
But symbolize His beauty's ray. 

And man with all his many deeds 

But adumbrates His wisdom's power. 

Which of achievement sows the seeds. 
And gives to hearts creative dower. 

Here, too, are hid the atoms all. 
Which with a subtle magic weave 
[ MO ] 



Earth's wedding garb and funeral pall, 
With all the senses can perceive. 

And here life's secret springs are found. 
Whether in plant or man or brute, 

Working like germs beneath the ground 
In darkness and forever mute. 

All faith, all hope, all love, all thought. 

All high imaginings of mind 
By which the deeper truth is taught. 

Are in the unseen world enshrined. 

And here the unvarying laws belong. 

Which over conscience hold fixed sway, 

Making eternal right and wrong. 

And parting them as night from day. 



[ 141] 



BOOK THIRD 



T^he Feast of Tongues, 



THE Feast of Tongues comes with sweet 
sound of bells, 
And nature shouts with her glad voice of spring ; 
From every grove the joyous notes outring, 
On every bush the fragrant rose-bud swells. 

Spirit ! from whose deep fount all love upwells, 
Who on Thy chosen band with rushing wing 
Cam'st down ; of all Thy wealth a little bring 

To crown the poet who Thy bounty tells. 

Too well I know my all-unworthiness, — 

But what are deeds of man in Thy pure sight ? 

Thou seest my faith, my yearning and distress; 
And with the poor to dwell is thy delight. 

Come, Holy Spirit, stoop my soul to bless ! 
Illumine Thou the darkness of my night. 



C I4S ] 



Deathless Beauty, 



I LOVE the beauty that is everywhere — 
The flowers that look into the face of spring ; 
The birds when in their leafy bowers they sing, 
The children playing in the balmy air j 

And grazing flocks, and yellow bees that bear 
Their honey to the hive, the murmuring 
Of waters, fragrant orchards blossoming. 

And summer nights when all the heavens are bare. 

But though I love, my heart finds not repose 
In all the glories of the earth and sky : 

They are as fleeting as the melting snows. 

And vain as homeless winds that round me sigh ; 

Past them my yearning soul to God up-glows, 
Seeking the beauty which can never die. 



[ 146 ] 



Self-Restraint, 



IF in self-mastery the poet shows 
The perfect skill of the true artist's hand, 
And due obedience to the high command 
Of the fair muse who all her gifts bestows 

In measure that with rhythmic motion flows, 
Why need he fret against the sonnet's band. 
Or think that growing lines which still expand 
Bear higher worth than her fourteen fixed rows ? 

In fewest words sweet truth is fittest said; 
Who draws his story out weakens his cause ; 
Brooks run more merrily in narrow bed ; 
The smallest jewel is most safe from flaws ; 
With moderate fortune bliss is oftenest wed ; 
And freest men obedient are to laws. 



[ 147 ] 



Aspiration, 



THE mark of noble souls is to aspire 
To noble hopes and loves — only the base 
Rest in themselves or run in vulgar chase 
Of what low hearts unworthily desire. 

The better men for better gifts inquire, 
And look above in search of hidden trace 
Of the deep love which lights God's holy face, 

And thrills in songs of the celestial choir. 

But Thou, O God, art seen of those alone 
Who, rapt in prayer, uplift adoring eyes 

To that eternal world, to sense unknown 

Where the immortal soul, with glad surprise. 

Awakes and finds itself among its own 

At home, like bird that sings 'neath azure skies. 



[ '48] 



God and Thyself. 



ALL noble work, of some one man is deed : 
What must be done by many is ill done ; 
As God is one, He works through will oy 
one. 
And crowds must follow where the one doth lead. 

" Lest the whole people die let one man bleed " — 
So spoke the Jewish priest of God's own Son, 
Through sin of one man all men were undone; 

Through death of one, all men from death are 
freed. 

Put trust in God, and in thy single might. 
If thou hast hope that better things shall be; 

Wait not till other hearts shall love the right, 
But strike the blow and thine own conscience 
free; 

Fill all the days of life with deeds of light, 
And so make luminous eternity. 



[ 149 ] 



World- Throwers. 



HE who has learned to love true work, has 
found 
The sovereign remedy for human ill ; 
To do good work right bravely, is to fill 
The heart with joy and peace sweet as profound. 

How pleasantly the songs of workers sound. 
Glad as pure hearts that do the Master's will, 
And musical as voice of bird or rill, 

In whose soft melody all grief is drowned. 

To be a man one must do work of man : 

We live by faith and hope and love and toil ; 

Mere idlers have no place in God's high plan. 
And sloth of souls immortal is worst soil j 

Great workers through all time tower in the van 
Of world-throwers, who make the earth their 
spoil. 



[ 150] 



The Soul of Joy, 



TO win the victory, is the soul of joy ; 
The shouts and praise that follow in its 
train 
Strike on the conqueror's ear as echoes vain, 
Which oft repeated weary and annoy. 

These may indeed delight a thoughtless boy 

Incapable of happiness or pain 

That reach into the deepest heart's domain. 
Who looks upon the world as but his toy. 

But he who toiling long for some great end, 
Upbuilding all his being by patient thought 

And noble deeds that to one issue tend. 
Until his life to harmony is brought. 

With purposes that this high courage lend, 
Lives only in his work — all else is nought. 



[ 151 ] 



Captives of Success. 



O BLESSED time of eager-heartedness ! 
When all best things seem possible and 
near, 
While ignorance keeps far both doubt and fear, 
And we with boundless hope right onward press, 

Dreaming the world holds more than we can guess : 
We trust our bark to the wide sea and steer 
Columbus-like for a new hemisphere. 

Nor deem that we can be content with less. 

But if some smallest islet's shore we gain, 
Straightway we take possession and forget 

Our godlike aim, or else we deem it vain. 
And narrow all our hopes without regret ; 

Mere servants now, who swore that we should 
reign, 
Poor captives of success, caught in a net. 



[ ISO 



The Chosen Few. 



YET still there live in every age a few 
Who dread not toil, nor poverty, nor hate, 
But suffer long, and never hope abate, 
Holding always some one high end in view ; 

Nor dream of thanks, or praise, or gold as due 
To them, but find reward exceeding great 
In their sweet work, blessing the lowly state 

Which hides them from the world and keeps them 
true. 

O happy lot ! to live for worthy cause. 

To which we give our all without a thought 

Of fame, or gain, or the vain crowd's applause ; 
Heroic hearts that are not sold or bought, 

But beat accordant with eternal laws. 

And do the deeds by which God's will is 
wrought. 



[ '53] 



Ideals of Touth, 



THE far-ofF days I see when to my heart 
I swore that we above the crowd should 
rise 
And reach the heights where through deep azure 
skies 
The flaming beams of fame's high temple dart. 

No votes of men in the fair dream had part, 
No golden apples filled our paradise, 
No social honors thronged as our sweet prize. 

Nought that is bought or sold in vulgar mart ; 

But through the soul, upborne by highest thought 
And by undying faith in labor's power 

To reach the goal which with fixed will is sought 
And give to largest hope a worthy dower. 

My heart and I, both young, each other taught. 
Lay the sole path to fame's most secret bower. 



[ 154] 



Work and Happiness, 



TO enjoy the utmost and to do the least 
Is task impossible. In work joy lies 
Which nature's law to idle hearts denies, 
For toil alone gives relish for life's feast. 

The happy man is labor's tireless priest, 
By ceaseless effort, struggling still to rise 
To higher thought and love, to purer skies. 
Nor hoping there from work to be released. 

As the infinite power can never rest 
So godlike men may never know repose, 
For energy unused is life unblest : 
A wellborn soul self active is and grows 
Still moving on in its untiring quest. 
Becoming all the beauty it foreknows. 



[ 155 ] 



Unto the End. 



WHAT I have done, to me is nothing now, 
Or but a vantage ground, from vv^hich I 
see 
My task still widening to infinity. 
While o'er the past sinks the horizon's brow. 

Then still, O God, to me this boon allow 
That though my deed once done seem not to be. 
Like dreams that melt into inanity, 
I may not faint, but work even as Thou 

Forever dost the thing Thou hast decreed 

Making eternal present of the past 

And gathering all the future's hidden meed 

In blessed moments which forever last. 

Throwing Thy life into one ceaseless deed 

Where love the myriad separate worlds binds fast. 



[ '56 ] 



Velut Occulta Arbor Mvo. 



KEEP well the secret of thy strong life aim, 
For, like sweet innocence, it surely dies 
If the coarse world but look into its eyes. 
Or breathe, perchance, upon the sacred flame. 

Speak not to thine own heart the worshipped name, 
But nurse thy thought and hoard thy energies. 
And through long silences learn to grow wise. 
Holding this dearer than all noisy fame. 

Self-centred, let thy soul learn its own worth, 
Seeking within thyself the mystic source 
Whence flow the waters of the higher birth ; 
Where wells the fountain of pure joy and force 
Which freshens toil, makes glad and fair the earth, 
And gives to hope and love a godward course. 



['57] 



A Power Unused, 



A POWER unused dwindles until it dies: 
Of effort every faculty is born 
And grows through action, like forth-sprouting 

corn, 
Attaining strength through its own exercise. 

The good, the great, the noble and the wise 
Luxurious days and easy life all scorn 
By toil and patient suffering out-worn. 
Still moving onward through heart agonies. 

And they who in God's kingdom high would 

dwell, 
And know the peace, the joy, and deep delight, 
Which there for souls like living waters well. 
With blood-stained feet must climb the rugged 

height 
Until they reach the heavenly citadel 
Where of eternal worlds they may have sight. 



[ 158] 



From the Fulness of the Heart, 

AMONG the throngs that crowd a great hotel, 
Talking full earnestly of things they love, 
A loitering listener sometimes 1 move 
To learn the hopes that in their bosoms sw^ell. 

Corn,, cattle, lands, and stocks they buy and sell ; 
By count of dollars worth of all things prove, 
Looking beneath themselves, while far above 
God and the soul of them forgotten dwell. 

Best human worth is lost where hearts are bound 
To service of the forms and shows of things, 
Seeking the highest where It is not found : 
The soul becomes as that to which it clings. 
And soars to God, or creeps upon the ground 
Like crippled bird that drags its broken wings. 



[ 159] 



Having and Being. 



TEN thousand men take wages from thy hand ; 
Thou ownest roads of steel and richest 
mines ; 
Thy palace like imperial Caesar's shines ; 
And where thou movest woman's smile is bland. 

Councils and senates follow thy command ; 
Thy golden treasures gild religion's shrines ; 
And at thy table wits drink costly wines, 
While crowds at sight of thee in wonder stand. 

But canst thou think a noble thought, or know 
That what thou hast is never what thou art ? 
Or canst thou feel the mind's ethereal glow 
That makes a man of all the worlds a part. 
Whose soul through larger love doth purer grow, 
While thy life's worth is rated in the mart ? 



[ i6o ] 



Auri Sacra Fames, 



ALL men I see blinded by glittering gold, 
And drawn to it as moths to fatal light 
Whose deadly glare deprives them of true sight, 
And sears the wings which heedless they unfold. 

So to wealth's seeming beauty men are sold, 
Dreaming that it alone makes fair the night. 
And throws around the heart a radiance bright, 

Which gives content and pleasures manifold. 

Alas ! that they should cherish such conceit 
And seek in matter the soul's nourishment ; 

Nor learn that wisdom has within her seat 
And with a little Hves nobly content. 

Offering to all from trouble safe retreat. 
And to the mind a heavenly element. 



r i6i ] 



Cursed Blessed Wealth. 



WEALTH kills the virtue by which it is 
made, 
And rich men's children who inherit all 
Their fathers leave, as gold and lands, and hall, 
Lack strength to bear the blessings on them laid, 

And by an inward weakness are down-weighed j 
Or straying into slippery ways they fall. 
And to dishonored graves forgotten crawl. 

Smitten with blight of pleasures that degrade. 

The good of life lies not in what we own. 
But in the faith and love and righteous deeds 

That make us strong, able to stand alone. 
Or walk upright in paths where duty leads, 

'Quitting ourselves, like honest men full-grown. 
And seeing God the more as earth recedes. 



[ '62 ] 



Idle Fancy. 



A FANCY — idle fancy, — this alone : 
When I am dead and years have hurried by? 
And swept into the grave all silently, 
Each human soul whom I have loved or known. 

And other men with other thoughts have grown 
As far from me as earth is from the sky ; 
Then I could wish that on these lines some eye 

Might rest, and drop a tear with tender moan. 

A fancy — idle fancy, — nothing more : 

We are forgotten ere we die; why dream 

When we are dead men still will ponder o'er 

Our joys and pains ? The darkly flowing stream 

Bears us and all we love to some far shore. 

Where of God's face I trust we catch a gleam. 



[«63] 



Inseparable Union. 



YET can I not without a pang consent 
To bid farewell to earth, and wholly die 
To scenes that in my inmost soul do lie, 
As part of the dear life which has been lent. 

When I feel death I always catch the scent 
Of new-blown flowers, and see the azure sky 
Of spring, and hear the children's ringing cry. 

And watch them run with life and joy besprent. 

What I, O God, have found so sweet and fair. 
And loved with such a true and tender heart, 

Knowing it was Thy world beyond compare, 
Can surely never from my love depart ; 

And where I am it also will be there. 
Since it is dear only because Thou art. 



[ 164] 



Not All in Vain, 



NOT all in vain I've lived; for here and there 
Some farmer's healthful children happy stray- 
By limpid brook, beneath the bloomy spray, 
Who but for me had breathed polluted air, 

In cities where the poor most hardly fare. 
Victims of sin, of want and death the prey, 
Sore pressed by toil, and unrefreshed by play, 

Bemocked by money's cold metallic glare. 

fair young souls ! I hear your joyful cry 
On Minnesotan or Nebraskan plain, 

1 see your glowing cheek and eager eye. 

Where wave wide fields of undulating grain, 
While innocence keeps you to God most nigh 
And I have share in all your pleasant gain. 



[ 165] 



From Crowds Afar, 



STAND from the eager-rushing crowds aside, 
Who, borne along upon the turbid wave 
Of passion's swollen stream, do never lave 
Where truth's eternal waters gently glide. 

They hurry through the portals open wide 
Of coarse sensation, nor have will to crave 

A better fate, nor faith that through the grave 
We pass to life, upcaught on death's dark tide. 

They live distracted by the world's vain shows, 
And deafened by the roaring looms of time ; 

Drifting, at mercy of each wind that blows. 
Far from the calm of that immortal clime 

Where meditative souls find pure repose 
Amid God's harmonies and love sublime. 



[i66] 



T^he Blessing of Solitude, 



OF solitude we are too much afraid : 
He who can Hve with God is not alone, 
Though far from noisy throngs who curse and 
groan, 
And with each other's company are paid. 

We soon shall be where is no human aid. 
All solitary each before God's throne, 
To reap the harvest we in flesh have sown. 

Which in eternal balance must be weighed. 

The lonely are the strongest and the best. 

If they but lean by faith on God's right arm: 

In solitude man's soul is put to test, 

And as he learns his strength he feels its charm, 

Knows that 't is good with nature to find rest 
Far from the crowd, and all the social harm. 



[ 167] 



The Peace of the Humble. 



NOT in the desert find we deepest peace. 
With nature and with our own heart alone, 
Remote from restless men who fret and moan. 
Whose sorrows and sore troubles never cease, 

On whose sad lives, care holds perpetual lease; 

Not in such solitude has peace her throne. 

To conscience pure she comes as to her own, 
Sweet as the dew that fell on Gideon's fleece. 

And finds a home wherever souls are found 

Who walk with Christ in childlike humbleness, 

Whether within the crowded city's bound, 

Or far from throngs in some vast wilderness ; 

For the whole earth is God's, and holy ground 
To hearts made reverent by righteousness. 



[ i68] 



Soul Affinities, 



SOULS have a closer kinship than blood owns — 
As to the ear sweet sound, and light to eyes. 
So to the soul, a soul that trembling flies 
And blends with it, hke soft, accordant tones. 

Their thoughts, their hopes, their loves, their 
tender moans 

Unite and make celestial harmonies ; 

To their deep yearnings come the same replies. 
And love for every fault with each atones. 

Communion in the best is strongest tie. 

The bond that binds the lower self is weak. 

And custom will the easy knot untie ; 

The love that lives upon a blooming cheek 

With the swift-fading bloom will quickly die. 
And deathless love man in the soul must seek. 



[ 169] 



Metamorphosis 



NO W I am sad — all will be well some day ; 
Then let me hope and pray and work and 
wait, 
And walk my narrow path with steadfast gait 
Through darkness till I catch the morning ray. 

What though my suffering's end be far away — 
Most welcome oft is guest who cometh late ; 
Then I will work and pray, nor hope abate, 

But in the gloom still sing my roundelay. 

The good of life lies not in gifts it brings. 
But in the heart which makes itself a world 

Divine and holy out of common things, 
And oft in sorrow finds a joy up-curled. 

As pupa seeming dead enfolds the wings 
Which in the azure skies shall be unfurled. 



[ 170] 



Life from Death 



WE shrink in horror from the earthy bed, 
Where in chill darkness and alone we lie, 
Shut out from all the gladness of the sky. 
Companions now of the cold clay and unknown 
dread, 

While men still laugh and sweet birds sing o'erhead. 
But from this dreary mould the sun on high 
Will call the flowers and make soft zephyrs sigh. 

And from it too will bring life-giving bread. 

May we not trust that God has power to do 

What light and heat perform at His command ? 

Since life from death comes everywhere to view, 
May we not hope upon our graves to stand, 

When He, like spring, shall all the worlds renew. 
And place His lovers at His strong right hand ? 



[171 ] 



From the Slime 



THE Northwind blows unceasingly — the 
ground 
Is covered far and near with sheetlike snow ; 
'Mid cornstalks, cattle stand, pictures of woe, 
And men acold are gathered hearthfires round. 

All life has shrunk into its germs profound ; 
The trees remember not when they did blow. 
The little birds their happy songs forego, 

And silence deep usurps the realms of sound. 

A mudhole midst the universal white 
Lies like a stain, unsightly and unclean; 

But when the warmer sun with spring's rich light 
Upon the miry mass with love shall lean 

The flowers there shall bloom to gladden sight 
And honey-bees shall come their sweets to glean. 



[ 172 ] 



l^he New Dawn 



OH ! many times my spirit ponders o'er 
My body dead, and looks into my face 
To catch each line and there my life to trace, 
With all the pain and all the joy it bore, 

In the brief day I wandered on the shore 
Of troublous sea of time, in narrow space, 
Striving to hold 'mid shifting sands a place. 

Heedless of winds and waters' deafening roar. 

But now the storm has died ; calm is the wave. 
And freighted is the bark that bears away 

The little good and ill life to me gave ; 
It glides into the dark, led by a ray 

Of faith and hope and love, which through the 
grave 
Falls hke famt dawning of eternal day. 



[ '73 ] 



At Rest 



THE struggle with the fever and the fret 
Is over now; — a few sweet friends stand 
near, 
And mingle with low-whispered words a tear, 
For me whom for brief time they shall regret ; 

But other loves will make them soon forget 
My cold, pale face upturned upon its bier ; 
The world will solace them with its good cheer, 

While my green grave with dews alone is wet. 

My spirit sees and with deep joy is glad. 

That no heart grieves for me, living or dead, 

That none who loved me for that love are sad. 
But still are happy though my Hfe has fled, 

Possessing still the boon which erst they had. 
Of love that lies not in an earthy bed. 



[ 174] 



'The Praise of Men 



WHY wish that men should praise me when 
I'm dead ? 
Now all alive I hold their praise is vain. 
It can not give content nor deaden pain, 
Nor bring the loved who into darkness fled, 

Nor widen my life-current's narrow bed. 

Nor lift my thought and love to higher plane, 
Nor win for me an everlasting gain. 

Nor place unfading wreath upon my head. 

What need of praise then when my body lies 
In silent earth and I to God have flown ? 

But if, as some have held, the soul too dies 
And wholly ceases, like a flame outblown, 

To praise the dead is worst of vanities 

And meaningless as the dull ocean's moan. 



[ 175] 



Unseen^ but Felt as Near 



O NOBLE man I dare not speak thy name 
In this poor verse, so far my thought of thee 
Outflies my words, which should be high and free, 
As thou wast gentle, true and without blame. 

The fatal breath that early quenched the flame 
Of thy pure life, sowed seeds of misery 
In hearts that leaned with fondest hope on thee ; 

To whom thy love was more than gold or fame. 

Yet still thou livest with us even here. 
For life like thine can never wholly die 

From out the world, but hovers ever near, 
A presence, though unseen, yet felt as nigh. 

To lift our thoughts and make the dim way clear — 
A spirit-link between the earth and sky. 



[ >76 1 



'Death of the Loved 



THY going hence has left the world less fair, 
O Brother mine, and all its harmonies 
Lacking thy voice are powerless to please, 
But break discordant in the dull chill air. 

One death has stripped the earth of beauty bare, 
As cruel blast disrobes autumnal trees 
And with the glorious pageant mocking flees : 

A breath has killed my joy and brought despair. 

But in thy sight, O God, no soul can die : 
I look to Thee, helpless as mother bird 

Whose nest is robbed : Thou hearest my deep 
cry. 
Thou seest my eyes with bitter tears all blurred : 

Teach me to know that he to Thee is nigh ; 
Feed Thou my heart with hope's eternal word. 



[ 177 ] 



Endurance 



AS gnarled and knotted tree, which through 
long years 
Has suffered outrage from all winds that blow, 
Deep-scarred in many battles with the foe. 
To the blue heaven unbending head still rears, 

And as each surly winter disappears. 

Puts forth, amid the universal glow 

Of warmth and light, its leaves and flowers as 
though 
It knew not storm nor biting frost that sears, — 

So a true man yields not to adverse fate. 
Nor wearies in the struggle for the right. 

On all his winters hopeful springs still wait. 

And through the darkness he looks toward the 
light. 

Bearing of noble deeds the precious freight 

With patience till God's day shall swallow night. 



[178] 



The Light Beyond the Bourn 

GOD made me and He will take care of me : 
No other can ; in Him alone I trust, 
Knowing that He is the sole good and just, 
And what He is, He is eternally. 

All else is shadow and mere vanity. 

Forms that the wings of time out-throw, as 
dust. 

Is caught and scattered far by windy gust. 
Blinding weak eyes till nothing else they see. 

These pass, but He remains forever true. 
He is the light I saw in life's fair morn 

Which o'er the world celestial beauty threw. 
And now when lengthening shadows me fore- 
warn 

Of coming night and death's chill falling dew. 
He is the light that gleams beyond the bourn. 



[ 179 ] 



Death of the Innocent 



HAPPY the child who dies still pure and fair, 
Before the age when joy is bought with 
pain; 
Who swooning dies, looking on waving grain 
Where orange blossoms perfume the soft air, 

Who breathes his gentle soul to God in prayer, 
Not knowing that the world he quits is vain ; 
Unconscious of sin's universal reign, 

And all the wretchedness that breeds despair. 

Like a sweet flower he droops and falls asleep. 
While all the earth is fresh in life's glad spring, 

And hope and love around him vigil keep. 
And tender twining arms about him cling : 

He dreams he hears the wings of angels sweep. 
And lo ! he wakes in heaven where cherubs sing. 



[ i8°] 



Sunset Skies 



HOW many times I have watched the far-ofF 
sky, 
Where the great sun, slow wheeling to the west. 
Passes 'mid gorgeous splendors to his rest, 
While all the heavens upglow beneath God's eye ! 

Then I have felt how good it were to die. 
To be in the calm region of the blest. 
At peace, like dreaming bird in leafy nest. 

Or sleeping child who knows its mother nigh. 

O the deep yearning for repose we feel 

At sight of sunset skies with their soft hues. 

So tender, fair, that we in spirit kneel 
To Him, who can such loveliness infuse 

Into His works, and to our eyes unseal 

Of His own beauty these two transient views ! 



[ i8i ] 



Contemplation 



HAPPY who stands from all the rush aside, 
Who quits this eager life of deep unrest, 
Where men seek things which never are possessed, 
But like fast-flowing waters from them glide. 

To all devouring seas that open wide ; 

Happy who turns away, and on the breast 
Of the slow Nile moves on calm and at rest 

To regions where repose and peace abide ; 

Where earth and sky through ages are the same ; 

And man, knowing the little he can do. 
The emptiness of pleasure, power, and fame, 

Like the calm earth and sky grows tranquil too, 
And makes sweet contemplation his sole aim. 

Gazing from palm-tree's shade on heaven's blue. 



[ >82 ] 



From Darkness^ Light 



WJ HEN one by one the chords that bind the 

To life, are loosed and break and fall away, 
As leaves at close of their brief summer day, 
We feel, new strength like one who nears the goal. 

These gentle ties that hold with sweet control 
The forces manifold that move and sway 
Our thoughts and loves, break hke the sun's 
white ray, 

To show the hidden beauty of the whole. 

Friends cease to love, warm hearts unfeeling grow, 
The dreams that gave sweet hope in vanished 
years 

Are dead, the little we can do we know ; 

We walk alone, our eyes bedimmed with tears. 

But through the darkness comes a sudden glow : 
We see God's face, and love drives far all fears. 



[ "83] 



Afield 

MOST blessed work is still the task first set 
For man in Paradise — to till the earth, 
From which the human body has its birth, 
And is, in spite of thorns, our mother yet. 

To wake at rise of sun, when flowers are wet 
With dew, and living things are glad as mirth, 
When growing corn keeps far all fear of dearth, 

And running brooks their pebbly channels fret ; 

To wake to daily task amid such scenes — 

To plough, to sow, to reap, to bind in sheaves 

The golden grain, till *mid rich purple screens 
The sun sinks down, and weary men relieves 

From toil, — such worker in God's own field gleans, 
And joy with peace, content with health re- 
ceives. 



C 184] 



Sweet Idle Leisure 



LEISURE, sweet idle leisure, is quite dead. 
Killed by electric flash and shrieking steam ; 
And now all men rush on like rapid stream 
Which darts and foams along its rocky bed. 

They hurry on, lest life itself be sped 

Ere they of its best gifts shall catch a gleam ; 
For all things now in swiftest motion seem. 

And what is present has already fled. 

Gone is the happy time, when planters* wives 
Gathered from house to house, day after day, 

Content as monks who lead their restful lives 
In Spain or Italy ; while children gay 

Swarmed round as thick as bees about their hives. 
And woke the lazy hours with laugh and play. 



[ rS5] 



O Soothest Sleep 



OSOOTHEST sleep who with thy healing wings 
As with a mother's arms enwrappest me, 
To thee my soul unceasing tribute brings 
For all thy tender lulling charity. 

If in the flaming light of early morn 

I rouse my spirit to its daily task 
Of toil and care, and feel a life new born 

It is because thy blessing first I ask. 

If round the setting sun new glories shine 

And other worlds with mountains, seas, and isles, 

All bathed in soft ethereal light divine 

As when on sinner's tears an angel smiles. 

It is because thy brooding wings are there 

Fanning the troubled brow of wrinkled care. 



[ 186] 



Wisdom and Purity 



IN my warm youth I dreamed there must be 
men 
Who into life's deep mystery may see, 
With vision clear from which all shadows flee, 
Piercing, the dark abyss with certain ken. 

Till all things glow before their eyes, as when 

To one who walks in the obscurity 

Of gloomy glen, in dreamy revery, 
A sudden turn brings the full light again. 

But now I know the utmost reach of thought 
Is powerless to touch the hidden spring 

Of perfect wisdom, which is only taught 
By a pure heart and patient suffering, 

By humbleness from meditation brought. 

And faith and hope, whereby to God we cling. 



[ 187] 



Loveless Strength 



O COLISEUM, ruin vast and strong, 
Defiant still, spite power of time and fate, 
Thou holdest well thy solitary state 
Amid new worlds that round thee idly throng ; 

And through the centuries dost still prolong 
The majesty of Rome, her mighty weight 
Of will, upraised above the little great 

And quick to punish all who did her wrong. 

But I behold, cold and indifferent, 

Unmoved by awful sternness of thy face, 

Heedless of all the memories which have lent 
To thy unyielding form their tender grace ; 

For thou art but the shameless monument 
Of the fierce strength of an unloving race. 



[ i88] 



Self- Per sis ten ce 



WE seek ourselves whether or not we will : 
Even in holiest love self aye is chief, 
The root of life, if not its flower and leaf, 
The pole to which all hearts forever thrill. 

Bury thy dearest friend, and thy life still 
Will live itself, will rise from out its grief 
And in mere self-assertion find relief. 

Until some other being the void shall fill. 

The soul can not consent to cease to be 

Itself, though God Himself should stoop to woo ; 

For through itself alone Him can it see. 
And know that He eternal is and true. 

While shadowy worlds appear and straightway flee 
Like clouds and all the panoramic view. 



[ 189] 



Divine Gifts 



GOD only can a godlike gift bestow : 
Genius and virtue come from Him alone, 
By Him the heavenly seed is ever sown 
And His the sun and rain that make it grow, 

As His the light that gives the flower its glow. 
Himself the perfect beauty which is shown. 
The highest truth and love that can be known. 

Midst earthly shadows flitting to and fro. 

Bow then in reverence wherever shine 

The glories which illumine high-born souls : 

The poet like the saint is half divine : 
The music of his spheral song onrolls 

Through jarring worlds, bearing God's countersign 
To tell that love the universe controls. 



[ 190 ] 



Inequality 



MAN differs from his fellow-man as light 
From darkness, as from rock the gentle 
wave, 
That with soft murmur comes its base to lave, 
As from the level plain the mountain height. 

Equality is hidden from my sight ; 

Not equal are the coward and the brave. 
Nor equal honest man and arrant knave. 

Unless the day be equal with the night. 

What my eyes see my tongue shall not deny. 
Whether true speaking bring me blame or praise ; 

There cannot be, I know, a holy lie. 
However smooth or popular the phrase. 

On truth as on my conscience I rely. 
Looking to God and to the light always. 



[191 ] 



Loving Confidence 



AS to a father, walking in the night, 
A little child clings close, nor sees the way, 
But trusts to him, knowing he will not stray ; 
So I hold on to God, by faith, not sight. 

The way is dark, but He will guide aright ; 

And through the gloom I move, nor look for day, 
But all my journey in His keeping lay. 

Nor doubt that He will bring me to the light. 

O Father ! lead me on ! Thou who hast set 

My feet in thorny road ; Thou seest my need ; 

The path I tread with bitter tears is wet. 

And many wounds I bear that pain and bleed ; 

My sore distress Thou never canst forget. 
Since with Thy Son I for Thy pity plead. 



[ 192 ] 



Ascending Paths 



THIS well I know is truth, that a true man, 
Whatever mystery, or dark or fair 
Life hide, to go where conscience points will 
dare. 
Come joy, come woe, doing the best he can ; 

Will keep his hopes accordant with high plan, 
Nor stoop to feeble thoughts of weak despair j 
Bearing with a strong heart what he must bear, 

Still struggling to the end as he began. 

As a blind steed turned loose, and without guide, 
Shuns downward paths, and takes but roads that 
rise. 

And if he fall, falls from the mountain-side ; 
So a true man, perplexed will seek the skies, 

Nor walk in lower ways that open wide. 
Led by aspiring faith that needs not eyes. 



[ 193 ] 



PRELUDES TO BOOK FOURTH 



Love and Innocence 



O LIVING springs and fountains clear, 
Where in the heat of summer noon 
We lie beneath the shade and hear 
Sweet birds and bees singing in tune ! 

O waterfalls, tumbling adown 

Your rocky beds with joyful song, 

Wearing your white and foamy crown, 

What pleasant thoughts around you throng ! 

O cool, deep wells, whose waters gleam 

In mossy circle of green stone. 
As fresh and fair as childhood's dream. 

And sweet as breath of hay new-mown ! 

But not more pleasant, fresh, and sweet 
Than is our life when God is near. 

And innocence and love do meet, 

Linked hand in hand and without fear. 



[ 197 ] 



Bliss Everlasting 



LUST in a moment turns to hate, 
But love is love forevermorej 
Lust is of loathing the twin mate, 
But love, love never yet forswore. 

Of the pure soul true love is born. 
And not of tingling nerves of sense ; 

And it is fair as a spring morn 

To minds kept young by innocence. 

Sweet as the breath of new-blown flowers, 
And fresh as dew-drops hanging there. 

It makes of homes celestial bowers. 
Holy as shrines where saints repair. 

It lies deep in a mother's heart, 
Tender as the soft skies that bend 

Over the earth when young buds start 
And with the air their fragrance blend. 

It gleams in children's laughing eyes, 
And clothes them in ethereal light. 

Such as on sun-kissed mountain lies 
When day is springing from the night. 

[ 198 ] 



To youth and maiden it stoops down, 
And straight they move as in a dream, 

Wearing of perfect joy the crown 

Through worlds that Paradise now seem. 

The heavens open and they stand 
Amid the glories of the spheres, 

Dwellers in an enchanted land. 

And in a moment live through years. 

How can true lovers ever doubt 
That souls like God immortal are, 

When round about them angels shout. 
And gates of life are all ajar ? 

When earth and heaven seem but one. 
And the whole universe divine, 

With every star a glorious sun 

That lights some far-ofF sacred shrine ? 

And even if the hallowed flame 
Should lose its first ethereal glow. 

Yet can they never be the same 

Who once have loved — though long ago. 
[ 199 ] 



If for a day the soul can feel 

That God's whole world is good and fair, 
Without harsh note in the high peal 

That rings His mercies everywhere, 

Why not believe that what may be 
For briefest space, shall in the end 

Be for pure hearts eternally 

The haven whither their hopes tend ? 



[ 200 ] 



The Chief Good 



LOVE is the soul's most perfect dower, 
And is its mighty miracle ; 
It only has creative power, 
And finds nothing impossible. 

Believing all, it can do all : 

Make winter spring, and bitter sweet, 
All jarring things to concord call, 

And with a smile go death to meet. 

It suffers all, knows not despair, 

And with a little is content ; 
Nor hate nor envy can it bear. 

But lives in its own element. 

Who have it not lack life's high meed, 

But with it rich is poverty j 
Kings and great captains feel its need. 

And all for solace to it flee. 

Than knowledge, it is better still. 

Better than wealth, than power, than fame ; 
It is chief good, matched 'gainst chief ill, 

The inner truth of God's dear name. 

[ 20I ] 



To have best love is to be best, — 
This is the high and heavenly way, 

Wherein the Christ, forever blest. 
Walked onward toward eternal Day. 



[ 202 ] 



Silence 



INAUDIBLE move day and night. 
And noiseless grows the flower; 
Silent are pulsing wings of light, 
And voiceless fleets the hour. 

The moon utters no word when she 
Walks through the heavens bare; 

The stars forever silent flee, 
And songless gleam through air. 

The deepest love is voiceless too ; 

Heart sorrow makes no moan : 
How still the zephyrs when they wool 

How calm the rose full blown ! 

The bird winging the evening sky 
Flies onward without song ; 

The crowding years as they pass by 
Flow on in mutest throng. 

The fishes glide through liquid deep 

And never speak a word ; 
The angels round about us sweep, 

And not a whisper's heard. 
[ 203 ] 



The highest thoughts no utterance find, 

The hoHest hope is dumb, 
In silence grows the immortal mind, , 

And speechless deep joys come. 

Rapt adoration has no tongue, 
No words has holiest prayer; 

The loftiest mountain-peaks among 
Is stillness everywhere. 

With sweetest music silence blends. 

And silent praise is best ; 
In silence life begins and ends : 

God cannot be expressed. 



[ 204 ] 



BOOK FOURTH 



Godward 



WITHIN the egg there sleeps the dower of 
wings, 
In tiniest cell the mightiest life began, 
Uprunning through a world-embracing span, 
From matter mere to love's faint murmurings. 

There is a godward tendency in things. 

From atoms to the faith and thought of man : 
The universe proclaims a widening plan, 

Where from the lower the higher still forthsprings. 

In midst of chaos vast and all obscure 
Of primal Stardust we may dimly see, 

The shaping purpose of a Mind secure 
Of aim, foreknowing all that is to be. 

And building without haste what shall endure, 
Still undiminished through eternity. 



[ 207 ] 



Self-Satisfied 



O LITTLE man, within thy narrow shell 
Living such life as the sad mollusks lead, 
Unconscious of the soul's infinite need 
And all the joys which in the bosom swell 

For those who on the sunlit summits dwell 
Of truth and love, and to the mind give heed. 
When on the wings of thought with arrowy speed 

It flies, and sees what it can never tell : — 

I know thee well, have watched thee many a day, 
And seen thy poor, self-satisfied conceit. 

Which makes thee think thy broken devious way 
Is path where God's immensities all meet, 

And thy cold feeble light's refracted ray 

Than the rich golden sun of June more sweet. 



[ ^°8] 



Past and Present 



WE think the thoughts of other men : they 
make 
Their wills our own, and trace the paths we tread ; 
They rule our hearts and minds, though they be 
dead, 
And hold us fast whatever way we take. 

In vain we strive the fatal spell to break ; 

Our souls with theirs forevermore are wed ; 

Of our life current they are the fixed bed, 
Whose banks the rushing waters do not shake. 

For us the long past ages are not flown ; 

Like our own deeds they travel with us still ; 
Reviling them we but ourselves disown ; 

We are the stream their many currents fill ; 
From their rich youth our manhood has upgrown. 

And in our blood their hopes and loves yet thrill. 



[ 209 ] 



The Source of Insfiiration 



SEEK not in works of mortal man to find 
The fountain-head of inspiration deep j 
But look into thy human heart where sleep 
The living waters that refresh the mind. 

There God and nature sweetly are entwined ; 

There soul and body sacred vigil keep ; 

There highest thoughts like winds through harp* 

strings sweep j 
There faith and hope and love are all enshrined. 

Not from the pages of a book upwells 
The limpid wave, whose soft and murmuring flow, 
With music fills the blooming hills and dells ; 
Stay close to nature if thou seek'st to know 
The secret home where truth with beauty dwells, 
And for right-seeing eyes fair visions glow. 



[ 2IO ] 



Forever Toung 



BETWEEN a double range of mountains rise 
Baalbec's lone ruins on the Syrian plain : 
All desolate the long-deserted fane, 
In a vast soHtude abandoned lies. 

But glorious still are Oriental skies, 
And round about still waves the golden grain, 
And from the rock there gushes forth a vein 
Of water, whose pure fountain never dries. 

Thus mightiest works of man in ruins fall. 
And crumble 'neath the feet of trampling time 
To fragments which but sadden and appal ; 
While nature is forever in her prime, 
And young as when she first heard God's deep call. 
And thrilled through boundless space with hope 
sublime. 



[211] 



The Creative Soul 



THE soul creates the beauty which it sees, 
Transforming matter where it naked lies ; 
With foolish atoms weaving sunset skies, 
And all the glory which forever flees. 

With gentle kiss like honey-loving bees 
It makes the sweetness ere the blossom dies, 
And self-delighted singing onward flies. 
Itself the thing it fondly hopes to seize. 

If then for beauty thou dost seek in vain, 
Finding in the whole earth naught that is fair, 
And canst not hear the high and heavenly strain 
Whose spheral harmonies breathe everywhere, 
The fault lies in thyself — the warm spring rain 
Clothes fertile soil but rocks no flowers bear. 



[ 212 ] 



The Impotence of Art 



PAINTING, nor sculpture, now can give 
delight. 
Cried Michael Angelo near to the grave. 
All art is vain, unless from death it save 
The soul, and lift it to immortal height, 

Where of eternal words it may have sight. 
Infinite is the beauty which we crave. 
But like the pictured sky in passing wave, 

It gleams but a bare moment, and takes flight. 

What trust may we put in the power of art, 
If he who bore St. Peter's dome to God, 

And bade live Moses from dead marble start, 
Who the fair earth like a creator trod, — 

If he turned with a disenchanted heart 

From all his works, now worthless grown as 
clod ? 



[ 213 ] 



As in a Dream 



THROUGH solemn woods in silence deep all 
day 
On wild Sierra's topmost ridge, I held 
My course. No voice disturbed, no sound 
dispelled 
The awful stillness which around me lay ; 

And mingled light and shade made all my way 
Seem haunted by such spirits, as of eld 
With Nature, 'midst her lonely forests dwelled 

To watch Great Pan and dryads at their play : 

Then suddenly the mount was cleft in twain, 
And far beneath, four thousand feet, the gleam 

Of winding wave made glad the smiling plain. 
While from a hundred heights the dazzling 
stream 

Of many torrents shot the silvery rain. 

And I, entranced, stood lost as in a dream. 



["4] 



The Great Mother 



EARTH ! from whose dust God made this 
human frame, 
Upon whose breast all mortal life is led, 
And in whose bosom man finds his last bed, 
With love and reverence I speak thy name. 

Thy goodness plant and flower and fruit proclaim. 
Through thee from God receive we daily bread, 
By thy rich bounty bird and beast are fed. 

And none but ingrates do thy worth defame. 

Thy motion makes the morning, eve, and noon : 
It makes the seasons too, who for thee weave 

The many-colored garb whereon the moon 
Looks with delight when in the dusk of eve 

She lifts her veil ; — To all thou bringest boon ; 
Joy to the glad, and sleep to those who grieve. 



r 2'5 ] 



A 



Home 

S I remember my own mother's face, 

When first to her I raised half conscious 



eyes 

In the sweet days of childhood's glad surprise, 
And saw her like an angel clothed with grace ! 

Gentle and fair, as one of higher race, 
Who to the earth had stooped from the blue skies 
To watch o'er me and point where heaven lies : 
So in my memory holds most sacred place. 

The home where I was born, where my young 

heart 
First leaped with joy at sight of coming spring, 
And felt itself of all glad things a part, — 
Akin to clouds and flowers and brooks that sing 
And happy birds that with a sudden dart 
Cleave the pure air on many-colored wing. 



[ "6 ] 



Nonabel 



ONONABEL, on whom the circling hills 
Look down, sitting amid the flowery brede 
Of gardens ; on whose plains the cattle feed 
To music of the limpid gurgling rills : 

Bare thought of thee my heart with longing fills, 
From all my heavy burden to be freed. 
That I again, lying in fragrant mead, 

May watch the clouds and hear the sweet birds' 
trills. 

It cannot be thou art but Fancy's child, 

A dream of days when heaven around me lay. 

And the whole earth with love and beauty smiled ; 
When in my eyes the year was always May, 

And morn and eve I saw my mother mild. 

While hovering angels stooped to hear me pray. 



[217 ] 



Truth and Love 



TO follow after truth and love teach me, 
O Christ, who art the Teacher of us all, 
By whatsoever name ourselves we call. 
Whether we seek, or whether from Thee flee. 

The truth. Thou sayst, alone can make us free, 
From sin and selfishness can disenthrall ; 
And truth must lead to love, our all in all. 

Our dream, our yearning, our infinity. 

Not wealth, not pleasure, not long life or fame, 
Not anything save truth and love, I crave : 

They are life's end, they are its highest aim. 
More worth than all the laurels of the brave. 

Than all that beauty, birth, or place may claim ; 
They are God's being which the soul doth lave. 



[ 218] 



'The Fount of Good 



IF what thou dost desire may not be thine, 
Learn then with what thou hast to be content ; 
For idle wishing is good time misspent, 
And wise men have no leisure to repine. 

Not anything thou hast, however fine, 
Nor aught which by fair fortune might be sent, 
As wealth or health or praise most eloquent. 
Can have the power to make thy life divine. 

The fount of good within thine own soul lies : 
Seek Beauty, Truth and Love ; live with thy heart, 
Rich in thyself, whatever Fate denies : 
Thou own'st the whole and need'st the smallest 

part ; — 
Lord of the earth and Lord of the deep skies. 
Thou child of God, of Nature and of Art. 



[ 219 ] 



Phantoms of Time and Space 

WHAT conduct any man to me may hold, 
Whether he love me or whether he hate, 
Whether he call me fool or think me great. 
Or leave me poor, or load me with his gold ; — 

Not by such love or hate am I controlled. 
Eternal laws rule o'er immortal fate. 
And he who lives to God, for God can wait, 

As for the morn the flock within the fold. 

Uplift my soul, O Christ, that I may see 

How vain are phantoms all of time and space 
To him who dwells in Thy eternity, 

And through the shows of things looks on Thy 
face. 
Oh, may they from my path like shadows flee. 
Till When and Where to Truth and Love give 
place. 



[ 220 ] 



The Good of Sympathy 



WITH every human heart made glad and free, 
My own accordant beats : no eye is bright, 
But I have part in all the sweet delight, 
And love the things I never hope to see. 

No soul is bowed in deepest misery, 

Bearing a weight of woe through life's dark 
night. 

But I would gladly make his burden light, 
And stretch to him the hand of sympathy. 

Glad with the glad, my joy is deep and wide, 
And sorrow, which for other's pain I feel, 

Makes me forget the good that is denied 

To my own heart ; and so from woe and weal 

I solace win, content whatever betide 
Till ebbing time eternity reveal. 



[ 221 ] 



Reunited in Higher Worlds 

WHEN the wide waste of ocean's waters lay 
Between me and the home where I was born, 
How often as I walked sad and forlorn 
At thought that all I loved were far away, 

A sudden sight of some fair star's mild ray 
Has tender solace to my sorrow borne, 
And soothed my pain, till I have ceased to mourn. 

Dreaming how that same way their eyes might stray. 

Thus when most cruel distance severed me 
From all I loved, I seemed to meet them still 

In the pure sky, to which my thoughts would flee; 
And now that some are dead, and earth is chill, 

My heart seeks them, O God, and turns to thee. 

Father ! They are with Thee ; keep them from ill. 



[ 222 3 



At the Breaking of the Bread 

WHEN thoughts and loves conflicting round 
me throng, 
Filling my soul with darkness and with pain. 
Until I faint and feel that it is vain, 
The never-ending struggle to prolong — 

I think of Thee, O Christ, and I am strong ; — 
Again the way which Thou with blood didst stain. 
The narrow path of duty I regain, 

And know God lives with him who does no wrong. 

O keep me close to Thee, forever near 
To Thy infinite truth and loving heart : 

In the lone night let me Thy voice still hear. 
Lest I should fall and suffer bruise and smart : 

Thou only canst the dim-lit way make clear; 
The hour is late : O do Thou not depart. 



r 223 ] 



Divine Favor 



AS a sweet flower when all the earth is dry, 
Upshrivels like a lonely heart that grieves, 
Or like a lover's soul whom hope deceives. 
But lifts its head when dews fall through the sky ; 

E'en so, O God, without Thy grace we die, 
And helpless lie like autumn's withered leaves, 
Which wintry wind into a death pall weaves, 

For the sad year that to its grave is nigh. 

But a bare touch, soft as the falling dew. 
Of thy pure love, will kindle life again ; 

As when through darkness comes the gradual view 
Of the glad sun, leading the joyful train 

Of laughing hours, through deep ethereal blue, 
The birds awake and sing melodious strain. 



r 224 ] 



Duty's Stern Command 



TO know that others suffer greater pain 
Than I, no solace brings to my sore grief; 
Rather of all my sorrows this is chief, 
That all men mourn, and comfort seek in vain. 

As wide as life, of suffering is the reign. 

And it seems long, though life itself is brief: 
What we call joy is but sense of relief 

From cares which quickly press us down again. 

Walk, then, in duty's path, whether it lead 
To joy or pain ; for these are not the end, 

But means indifferent to him whose creed 

Reaches to God, to whom his hopes all tend ; 

Who looks to Him for more than earthly meed, 

And works and bears till He deliverance send. 



[ 225 1 



Rest in My Love 



WHERE love of God is found no harm can be ; 
All forces that in nature work or lie, 
All powers of earth, and all in depths of sky, 
All faith and hope and fear ; all mystery ; 

All life and death, all joy and misery. 
All visions, aims, and yearnings testify- 
That perfect states of soul God's love imply ; 

And with His love are in full harmony. 

" Rest in my love," O Christ, is Thy sweet word 5 
And if not there, then not at all we rest. 

As through the darkling sky a weary bird 
Still cleaves its way to the leaf-hidden nest. 

So does the soul which Thy true voice has heard. 
Wander through gloom of life, of love in quest. 



[ 226 ] 



Life's Shadow 



A HUNDRED pleasures are not worth one 
pain ; 
Joys that are gone are mocking memories 5 
But sorrows past still leave us ill at ease, 
And like our sacred dead with us remain. 

No joy can last — therefore all joy is vain : 
From suffering who flies, his shadow flees. 
It is of life incurable disease. 

And death, if pleasure be our end, were gain. 

But they who most enjoy are not most blest. 
And sensual hearts are hardest still to please. 

Sorrow is not always unwelcome guest 

To noble soul, who through great agonies. 

And not through vain delights, hopes to find rest, 
Who sweetest truth with tear-dimmed eyes still 
sees. 



[ 227 ] 



Immortal Grief 



TEACH me, O God, the good there is in ill, 
For it is in and round me wide and deep. 
As life and death, the harvest which I reap, 
Whatever seed I sow, or ground I till. 

And deeds which men call good cannot up-fiU 
The depths of loss and woe where I must creep 
Like bird, with broken wing, hurled from the 
steep. 

Whose song shall never more in gladness trill. 

I bear within my soul immortal grief. 

And they who comfort bring are mockers all : 

To boundless pain what power can give relief ? 
Death on my life has breathed, and its black pall 

Lies on my world and holds its joy in fief — 

From out the depths, O God, to Thee I call. 



[ 228 ] 



By Suffering Made Perfect 

AH, could I speak some soothing word whose 
sound 
Might comfort bring to lonely hearts that bend 
Beneath the weight of suffering, with no friend, 
No hope, no solace in their woe profound ; 

Who walk in narrow way all sorrow-crowned, 
Whose bitter tears unceasing flow and blend 
With sobbing rains that to the ocean wend 

With chant of wailing winds there to be drowned. 

But God alone can solace bring to grief 

Like theirs ; no words married in sweetest rhyme 

Have power to give their stricken souls rehef. 
Through patient suffering they grow subhme, 

And wait, knowing that longest day is brief, 
And years eternal follow after time. 



C 229 ] 



The Wages of Sin 



ALL sin bears hidden seed of misery, 
However fair may be the form it wears, 
However sweet the feast which it prepares, 
However soft its voice of flattery ; 

E'en though it seem an angel from the sky, 
Down-stooping gently but to soothe our cares. 
And of some freer life to make us heirs, 

With promise of a godlike destiny ; 

Still must we flee, if hope of bliss be ours. 

No guilty conscience ever yet was glad. 
God works with all His universal powers 

To make the evil-doer inly sad. 
A moment's joy whole years of peace devours, 

And who seek happiness in sin are mad. 



[ 230 ] 



Undeceived 



I AM weary now, O God, of my own will, 
Which once I loved as freedom and the light, 
Trusting all my life's fortune to its might, 
Certain that I should be the conqueror still. 

In my strong heart I felt was power to fill 
The measure of my hope to its full height. 
To breast the storms of fate and do the right, 

To walk the earth secure and fear no ill. 

But now, my God, that idle dream has flown ; 

And tottering under weight of sin and woe 
Relief is none unless to me be shown 

The mercy which Thou only canst bestow. 
Ah ! look upon my misery, hear my moan. 
The burden of my life on Thee I throw. 



1^31 ] 



Blessings in Disguise 



'' I ^HERE is a holy grief that purifies 
■^ The soul, softens the heart, and courage 
lends 
To trust that evil to the better tends ; 
In that it makes us patient, gentle, wise. 

From sacred sorrow like to this who flies. 
Cherishes enemies and shuns best friends. 
Nor knows the blessings in disguise God sends 

To those to whom He many joys denies. 

From suffering I ask not to be free. 

But from the petty mind and peevish heart, 

That in adversity no good will see. 

But fret and fume at smallest loss or smart. 

Great sorrows and great hearts do best agree, 
As of all noble life pain is a part. 



[ 232 ] 



In the Depths 



SUFFERING alone can reach the inmost soul, 
And show the infinite depths of loving heart, 
Which of itself to pleasure gives but part, 
And at the shrine of sorrow lays the whole. 

Sudden and bright the waves of joy uproll 

Upon the shining beach, then backward start, 
And with a merry laugh, swift as the dart. 

Are gone forever far from all control. 

But sorrow, like an ocean, is profound. 

And vast, and touches life's most secret shores; 

Its hidden deeps in mysteries abound 

Of love, which there a boundless wealth out- 
pours ; 

And its dark waters, moving earth around. 
Baptize each suffering soul who God adores. 



[233] 



Sorrow-Crowned 



THE greatest sorrow finds the greatest heart, 
As they who love the most best also know 
The pain of loss, and all the voiceless woe 
Of souls that are transfixed by fiery dart. 

Of joy grief is the fatal counterpart; 

From pleasure's deepest fountains ever flow 
The bitterest waters ; and where roses grow 

Are found the thorns that make us bleed and smart. 

But they who greatly love can greatly bear, 
And noble souls are purified by grief, 

As apples mellow grow in biting air. 

And frost gives richest hues to autumn leaf; 

Therefore their sorrows like a crown they wear, 
Or bind them at God's feet in golden sheaf. 



r. 234 ] 



At the Ninth Hour 



ELI, Eli, lama sabachthani ? 
O sadder than the ocean's walling moan, 
Sadder than homes whence life and joy have 
flown. 
Than graves where those we love in darkness lie ; 

More full of anguish than all agony 

Of broken hearts, forsaken of their own 
And left in hopeless misery alone, 

Is this, O sweet and loving Christ, Thy cry ! 

For this, this only is infinite pain : 

To feel that God Himself has turned away. 

If He abide all loss may still be gain. 
And darkest night be beautiful as day. 

But lacking Him the universe is vain. 

And man's immortal soul is turned to clay. ; 



[ 235 ] 



Consummatum Est 



AND now Thy work is done; Thy thorn- 
crowned head 
Sinks low in death, in infinite repose 
Deep as abysmal depths of human woes, 
Calm as the azure heavens when storms have fled. 

Grateful as sleep when the sore heart has bledj 
And through the central seat of nature glows 
Serenest joy, such as from Thee outflows 

When on the innocent Thy love is shed. 

Thy agony is passed, Thy work is done ; 

The Father to his children has been reconciled ; 
The world's great battle has been fought and won 5 

From stain are purified the sin-defiled ; 
The many have been all redeemed by One, 

And God on new created life has smiled. 



[ 236] 



Ohennann 



HAD I but lived ! was the despairing cry 
Of Obermann, a melancholy shade 
Who moved forlorn in worlds his fancy made, 
And in great nature's voice heard but a sigh. 

And hadst thou lived, still must we ask thee why. 
Since they who drink life's cup, like thee must 

fade 
In briefest time and in cold grave be laid, 

And so, if this be all, must wholly die. 

'T is vain for man to wish that ought had been. 
Or had not been, or yet might be, unless 

God is i for without Him there lie within 

The soul mere phantom worlds and hopelessness; 

And life's a losing game, where they who win 
Gain nought, for all that is is emptiness. 



[ 237 ] 



The Melancholy Tribe 



OF all the melancholy tribe, Rene, 
Thou art most reasonable and the best; 
Lone Manfred eats his heart, and all unblest, 
Hating the world, from heaven turns away. 

Sad Werther may not love the light of day 
Because a woman's eyes upon him rest; 
His sickly passion he cannot digest. 

But coward lifts his hand himself to slay. 

And Obermann, unhappy as lost soul. 

Wandering 'mid shadows that no substance own, 
Rejects e'en thought of aught that might console ; 

But thou, Rene, though sad, art not alone ; 
Hope still abides with thee, and will unroll 

The vision where God's truth and love are shown. 



[238] 



De Profundis 



THOU art O God, and in Thy holy light, 
I see that I too am, and am Thy child, 
Though weak and helpless and all sin-defiled, 
Doing the wrong, e'en while I love the right. 

But yet I live always within Thy sight, 
And when I stray by vanities beguiled, 
Nor hearken to thy pleadings strong and mild. 

Then most I feel Thy tender love's deep might. 

Father! stretch forth Thy hand, uplift my mind, 
My heart, my soul, and all that makes me man. 

Pour forth Thy grace, give sight to me purblind : 
Teach me of human life the perfect plan ; 

The scattered powers of all my being up-bind. 
And be Thy love of death's dark stream the span. 



[ 239 ] 



hifes Witness 



ON the dead face of one we love we gaze, 
And looking long behold each feature there 
Untouched by death, still human, sweet and fair, 
As when he gladdened all our dreams and ways. 

But he whom our hearts love no longer stays 
'Neath this poor mask, which is now lone and bare 
As a deserted home, or as a chair 

Whose vacant seat makes sad the cheerful blaze. 

Like angels who to men have come as guests, 
The soul reveals itself when it has fled. 

Its shadow on the lifeless countenance rests, 
And looking close we see that what is dead 

The godlike and immortal life attests 

Of man ; and so by death our hope is fed. 



[ 240 ] 



Resignation 



ALONE, O my poor heart, are you and I, 
Sad and alone, compassed by doubt and fear, 
Twin bubbles, floating on the troublous mere 
Of matter, for brief moment till we die : 

With knowledge that but serves to show death nigh, 
With light enough to see the world is drear. 
To know that every cradle holds a bier. 

As in love's merriest laugh there lurks a sigh. 

'Tis even so : no comfort anywhere ; 

We are alone, and human help is vain, 
Sad and alone our burden we must bear 

Nor dream that men have power to ease our 
pain : 
The bubble soon will burst into the air 

And all the darksome mystery be plain. 



[ 241 ] 



Life Eternal 



GIVE not to me, O God ! the thing I crave, 
If I crave aught except to do Thy will, 
Or dream that aught but Thou the heart can fill, 
Or from despair and death the soul can save. 

Thy power alone can lead me through the grave, 
Through the dark valley, up the Holy Hill 
Where in the tomb there ran creative thrill 

That woke the dead and new life to man gave. 

Give me immortal hope, or else despair 
Will swallow all I love in endless night ; 

The good that others seek of death is heir. 

As wealth and wife and health and honor bright ; 

Unless in life eternal I have share, 

'T were better I had never seen the light. 



[ 242 ] 



The Gift of Sef 



THE purest and the tenderest hearts are brave, 
For they who love the most can suffer best, 
Since true love never shuns the perfect test 
Of bitterest pain, but of itself is slave. 

No sorrow can affright it, nor the grave. 
No toil but it will make as light as jest, 
And bear as gaily as the wave its crest. 

Strong and serene when angry tempests rave. 

O godlike power, that we ourselves may give, 
And yet retain the treasure as our own, 

Dying to self that we may truly live. 

For they live not who seek themselves alone. 

And all save love is vain and fugitive. 

Which still remains when faith and hope have 
flown. 



[ 243 ] 



In Self-defence 



I LOVE more than myself in self-defence 
My God, my country, and all noble things ; 
All thought, all faith whence purer life forth 
springs. 
And nourishment for the soul's indigence; 

Whatever gives to me a higher sense 

Of kinship with the best, and solace brings 
To troubles, doubts, to all heart sufferings. 

And remedy for blank indifference. 

I am so poor, so ignorant, so weak, 

So useless to myself that life were vain. 

If I, standing upon its topmost peak, 
Could not believe in the diviner reign 

Of God, His truth and love and mercy seek. 
And hope of worlds immortal entertain. 



[ 244 ] 



A Twofold Love 



WHERE human love is not, no goodness stays, 
For love of God of love of man is born, 
As out of dawn grows fulness of the morn, 
And narrow paths lead on to open ways. 

The faithful heart that trusts and hopes and prays, 
Is tender too, helpful, and without scorn, 
A minister of joy to the forlorn. 

And meek as child who near a mother plays. 

They serve not Christ who kill affection sweet. 
And dry the fount of human sympathy : 

Unloving souls for heaven are all unmeet. 
Their worship is a vain idolatry. 

And their religion but a fond conceit : 
True lovers only near to God can be. 



[ 245 ] 



Self-Renouncement 



TEACH me, O God, gladly to lack the things 
That men most seek and crave, as wealth 
and fame. 
And wife and children, and the crowd's acclaim, 
And all to which the heart most fondly clings ; 

That I may find the source whence pure joy 
springs. 
And make Thy love of all my life sole aim. 
With not a thought or wish to thwart Thy claim 

To my poor heart, which to Thee nothing brings. 

" Who loves his life shall suffer loss of it ; 

Who hates his life shall know the life divine/* 
This is the Truth we read in Holy Writ, 

This is the bread, the water, and the wine, 
Of those who at Christ's blessed table sit — 

They taste, and ask of Him no other sign. 



C 246] 



spiritual Combat 



WEAK is the faith which we confess with 
shame ; 
The soul is strong when with an upward gaze 
It looks to what is high, nor disobeys 
The inward Hght of its ethereal flame. 

But when low thoughts its own high worth defame. 
It sees them with a blush, and so betrays 
Its inborn nobleness, which still gainsays 

The tenets that deny its godlike name. 

So ever must a spiritual faith prevail, 

For thought and hope and love and pure desire 

Before mere sensual creeds perforce will quail. 
Since human hearts are fashioned to aspire 

To better things, however they may fail 
In conflict with passion's consuming fire. 



[ 247 ] 



In Exitu 



• • 1\ /r Y men and brothers, westward lies our 
iVi way : " 

So spoke Columbus, looking on the sea 
Which stretched before him to infinity ; 

And while he sailed he wrote these words each day, 

As though, " West lies thy course," he heard God 
say. 
With promise of the blessings which should be 
When a New World had borne young Liberty, 

As fair and fresh as flowers in month of May. 

O heaven-appointed man ! all hail to thee ! 

Thou other Moses of a chosen race, 
Who out of darkness and captivity 

Leadest the people from the tyrant's face 
To where all men shall equal be and free, 

And evil life alone shall be disgrace. 



[248] 



Where Tyrants Perish 



SAIL on, Columbus ! sail right onward still, 
O'er watery waste of trackless billows sail, 
Nor let a doubting race make thy heart fail 
Till a New World upglow beneath thy will. 

Let storms break forth and driving winds be shrill : 
But be thou steadfast when all others quail. 
Still looking westward till the night grow pale. 

And the long dreamed-of land thy glad eyes fill. 

Great world-revealer, sail ! God leads the way 
Across the gloomy, fathomless dark sea. 

Of man unvisited until this day. 

But which henceforth for the whole world shall be 

The road to nobler life and wider sway, 
Where tyrants perish and all men are free. 



[ 249 ] 



Freedom's Fortress 



FREE men alone are they who do the right, 
For liberty obedience is to law ; 
And they who from this service sweet withdraw, 
Are made the slaves of a stern tyrant's might. 

To serve within our place and in God's sight, 
To keep our lives unstained and without flaw. 
To walk in humbleness and holy awe 

Is to be clothed with freedom as with light. 

The truth, the blessed Saviour said, makes freej 
And they who do the right, the truth shall know ; 

And only they are sons of liberty. 

No laws of man the heavenly gift bestow j 

The soul is freedom's fort by God's decree, 

Which naught but our misdeeds can overthrow. 



[ 250 ] 



A Lowly Mind 



GIVE me, O Christ, a mild and lowly heart, 
That from all vain desires I may find rest, 
And taste the peace that dwells within Thy 
breast, 
And learn of happy life the simple art ; 

That in Thy kingdom I may have a part. 
And at Thy feast be not unwelcome guest 
With gentle Mary who chose well the best. 

Made wise by perfect love and sin's deep smart. 

Teach me to walk in humbleness and fear. 
Still ever close to Thee like a meek child 

Who in dark place keeps to its mother near : 

When passion's storms and pride are loud and 
wild. 

Within my soul let me Thy calm voice hear. 
Speaking the " peace — be still," in accent mild. 



[251 ] 



Nature s Permanence 



IF all I love were dead and in the grave, 
And the whole earth held not a single face 
That ever looked on me with tender grace, 
No soul that to my grief sweet solace gave. 

And loving sympathy which sufferers crave; 
But my poor heart, like ancient funeral vase, 
'Mid desolation kept its lonely place. 

Dreary and chill as ocean's wintry wave, — 

Thy world, O God, would still be sweet and fair : 
The spring would bloom, and in their leafy 
bowers 
The birds with music fill the morning air. 

The growing corn would drink the fragrant 
showers. 
The rose in June her full ripe beauty bare. 

And bees would sing their love amid the flowers. 



[ 252 ] 



Ceaseless ^est 



IN pleasant things but common men find rest, 
The noblest hearts seek ever something more 
Than slumberous peace, and all their thoughts 
upsoar. 
Borne on the tireless wings of ceaseless quest. 

The having aught can never make them blest, 
From battles won they other fields explore. 
Away from all they are, they look before. 

Nor deem that happiness itself is best. 

Still nearer to the highest must they grow. 
Through strong heroic strife and agony. 

Through faith and hope that God himself will show 
To godlike souls the way they darkly see : 

They falter not nor faint, but onward go 
Peering through time into eternity. 



253 ] 



Live Now Right Life 



WJ HAT matter that no heart shall grieve for 

When I am dead ? So live that men may bless 
Thy life, rich vi^ith sv^^eet fruit of helpfulness ; 
In death, thy God, not they, shall care for thee. 

So live that others in thy memory 

May find a solace in their sore distress, 

Some gleam of hope in their deep v^^retchedness ; 

So shalt thou live in ages yet to be. 

Live novi^, right life, and leave to God the event : 
Regret is vain, and all true work is joy ; 

When night comes on be thou with labor spent ; 
Think not the world was given to be thy toy, 

Nor deem thine own the thing which is but lent, 
While faith and hope divine thy heart upbuoy. 



[ 254 ] 



T^hy Will be Done 



GIVE not to me, O God, my heart's desire. 
For I am blind and know not what is best, 
More than a babe asleep on mother's breast. 
But do Thy will : uplift Thy children higher ; 

Nearer to Thee, from out the soil and mire. 
Of selfish loves in which no man is blest : 
Lead on their wandering steps to where is rest, 

In sight of Thee to whom all hearts aspire. 

This is my prayer, this is the yearning deep 
Of my true self, for in the good of all 

The good of each is found ; therefore I keep 
My thought above myself and am Thy thrall ; 

Thy servant in Thy fields Thy grain I reap. 
And have no hope save in Thy mercy's call. 



[ ^55 ] 



Perchance 



IT may be none will read the rhymes I write ; 
Much better verse has had no better fate, 
And truest poetry has oft to wait 
The poet's death, ere it may claim its right. 

I need not gold, and find enough delight 
In quiet walks where sings a muse sedate ; 
My task at least is harmless, if not great ; 

I am content without a proselyte. 

Yet in these songs there may be found a note 
Which to some dolorous heart shall solace bring, 

A tone which with high hopes shall blend and float, 
A line which to some memory shall cling; 

And therefore to their fate I them devote. 

Like seed sown in the shifting winds of spring. 



[ 256] 



CCT 30 1901 



